


A Kiss Is Just a Kiss

by Kitsune_Moonstar



Category: Naruto
Genre: 30 Kisses Challenge, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2013-08-25
Packaged: 2017-12-24 16:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 27,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/941991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsune_Moonstar/pseuds/Kitsune_Moonstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thirty stories for Jiraiya and Tsunade for the thirty kisses challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Almost Lover

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Naruto or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list beta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme 10: Scythe. This will most likely be the only piece with a lot of angst in it in the collection.

**Almost Lover**

It was dark out, but no one was going to comment on her being here. Especially if they knew what was good for them. Tonight Tsunade had plans that she intended to let no one interrupt. Konoha needed her to be Hokage, and to do that, Tsunade needed to do this. It hurt like hell, but she couldn't afford to spend her time mourning Jiraiya when her people needed her to be a leader. Her steps slowed as she approached the memorial. It took every bit of strength she had to keep walking. She wanted to deny it. She wanted things to go back to the way they were. She didn't know if she could live in a world without Jiraiya, and she didn't really want to find out if she could or not.

Tsunade sat down across from the memorial. She poured herself a cup of sake and raised it to the stone. She had brought the best bottle of sake she could find with her. It would have been better shared in celebration of Jiraiya's return, but it wasn't like she had a choice in the matter now. Downing the first cup, she sighed.

"Well, Old Toad, I'm the only one left now. Well, the only one of us three." Tsunade hesitated then decided to skip the mundane pleasantries. "I love you. I think you knew that, but I'm going to say it anyway. I love you, and it has terrified me ever since I realized it. But I bet you figured that out too. You were also better at reading me than I liked."

She poured herself another cup of sake. "I was scared. Everyone I've loved left me, and I thought by denying what I felt I could protect you and protect myself from getting hurt again. You saw what losing Nawaki and Dan did to me. Hell, you were the one to comfort me and help me hold together afterwards. You had to know what losing you would do to me. And the fact that I was the one to send you to your death."

Her voice trailed off. This was part of why she hadn't wanted to be Hokage. She'd been afraid that one day she'd send him to his doom. And now she had. Tsunade wasn't sure she could live with that. Except she had to. Konoha didn't have anyone ready to take over as Hokage just yet. This hurt even more than losing Dan. More than losing Nawaki. Jiraiya had been everything. Her friend, her teammate, her first kiss, her colleague, her confidant, her cheerleader, her hero, her supporter, her comfort.

"I'd give almost anything to go back and change things," she whispered. "There is so much I could have changed. We could have been married. Could have had a family. I wasted so many of our years. I'm sorry about that. You deserved better. We both deserved better."

Tsunade reached out and gently traced Jiraiya's name on the memorial. It was still rough, not yet worn smooth by time. Her name would join it soon enough. It wouldn't be much longer. Once she had made sure the Atsukai were taken care of and that Konoha had a replacement for her, she could go. A suicide mission would cross her desk sooner or later, and instead of assigning it to someone else, Tsunade would take it herself. And she wouldn't come back. Death's scythe would reunite her with her best friend.

Tears were streaming down her face now, and she didn't even try and stop them. There was no point. There was no one here she needed to be strong for. She wasn't the Hokage or even one of the sannin. She was just Tsunade. That had always been enough for Jiraiya, and it wasn't fitting to mourn him as someone else.

"You would be so proud of Naruto, Jiraiya. I know you already were, but he's going to keep making you proud. Even if he is a little dense when it comes to Hinata." Tsunade giggled a little hysterically at that. "She may just have to knock him over the head and drag him off. But they'll be happy. I'll make sure they have a future."

She couldn't find the words after that. Tsunade just cried until the world faded away. She would wake with the next morning with the dawn and make her way back to her office. There was work to do.


	2. Yesterday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU. Theme 13: Hourglass.

**Yesterday**

Tsunade was pretty sure she was still in shock. The events of the day had left her feeling awed, terrified, confused, furious, and exhausted. She hadn't even known there was a jutsu that could do this, and she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It had started out as an ordinary day. Things had gone fine until lunchtime. Tsunade had let Sakura talk her into going to the Ichiraku to eat, and they had been on their way there. She hadn't known what was going on. It had felt like air was almost humming. Tsunade had just barely heard the warning cry just before someone had tackled her to the ground. Jiraiya had slammed into her, rolling her body beneath his own. The wind had been knocked out of her, and Tsunade had spent the next few minutes gasping for breath, Jiraiya still on top of her. She could vaguely hear the sounds of a fight going on around them, but she was too dizzy and all her limbs were tingling to really pay attention to that.

She managed to free a hand to press to her temple. Tsunade's head was pounding, and from the way Jiraiya was breathing, she would guess that he was in pain as well. She paused a moment, staring at her hand. There was something off about her henge. She couldn't even feel the slight twinges of arthritis that she typically had. Even the adrenaline she was feeling wouldn't explain that. Her hands almost always ached a little no matter what. Jiraiya shifted and rolled off her.

Tsunade sat up, studying the parts of her body that she could see. This wasn't her henge. She looked and felt younger. It was as if her body had actually regressed. Jiraiya held out a hand to her, and she took it, looking up at him for the first time. Tsunade froze. The man standing above her was Jiraiya, but he was the spitting image of Jiraiya at age eighteen. She opened her mouth, but her voice didn't quite work.

"Hime?" His voice was concerned.

"Do you have a mirror?" She blurted it out.

Jiraiya frowned. "You look fine, Hime. In fact, you look more like you're eighteen versus being in your twenties like normal…"

His voice trailed off as he seemed to realize that something was not right.

"I'm not the only one who looks eighteen."

That was about as far as their conversation had gotten before they had gotten swept up in the chaos of ninja trying to figure out what had happened and moving to a more secure location. There were questions to be answered and tests to be run, and one way or another, Tsunade didn't get a chance to speak privately with Jiraiya. She wanted to if only because she knew that it would help her focus and calm down. Jiraiya had always had that effect on her. He also had a tendency to provoke her and make her lose her temper. But he was something familiar in all this, and Tsunade was feeling the need for comfort and stability.

As far as any of them could tell, she and Jiraiya had actually physically regressed to the point where they were eighteen again. And it looked like it was permanent. Well, they were both aging at the normal rate, but they were aging from eighteen rather than their actual ages. Time's hourglass had gone backwards and then forwards again. She didn't know how the ninja had managed it or what the point of it had been. The ninja who had carried out the attack had sucided before any of her people could get their hands on him. He had been carrying no identifying marks or equipment, so they didn't even know where the attack had originated from. It was a puzzle, and it didn't look like they were going to find a solution any time soon. But once they were sure that there was no further danger, Tsunade was left alone in her office to think.

Tsunade sighed. She remembered being eighteen. It hadn't been fun. Oh, she had been a fantastic ninja at the time and her team was in one piece. But that wouldn't last too much longer. At eighteen she had just been recovering from loosing her little brother a few years earlier, and at eighteen she would lose Dan, who she thought was the love of her life. On the other hand, this could be a chance to rectify some of the mistakes she had made. She might be physically eighteen now, but she still had all of her memories and experiences. And now she had more than just a decade or so ahead of her. Of course, that was only if they weren't all killed in a battle or an attack. But that was the life of a ninja.

The real question was: was Tsunade willing to take a risk and use this opportunity change some decisions she had made in the past? The idea terrified her a little, but on the other hand, what if she didn't try? What if she went through life knowing that she had never given it a chance? She was no hero, but she could overcome her fears. Maybe. She was still puzzling over the whole issue when Jiraiya walked into the office.

"What are you stewing over now, Hime?"

He knew her too well. Tsunade looked up at his familiar and yet unfamiliar face. Eighteen looked good on him. Of course, if she was being honest, she would admit that he had always looked attractive to her.

"I was just trying to figure out if this changed things or not."

He met her eyes. "What things?"

Tsunade sighed and looked away. He knew exactly what she was talking about, and he was going to make her say it.

"Well, this could be a second chance in some ways."

"A second chance for what, Hime?" Jiraiya was standing right in front of her now.

She met his eyes. "Us. For us to something more than friends."

He smiled at her and pulled her into his arms. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

She rest her head against his chest, closing her eyes. "I'm scared, Jiraiya, but I'm willing to give this a try."

"Good. I won't let you down." He kissed the top of her head.

Tsunade let out a soft sigh and hoped that for once romance would work out for her.


	3. Unexpected Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 8: Strings.

**Unexpected Consequences**

To say that the past two years had been interesting would be an understatement. Tsunade had adjusted somewhat, but it was still rather odd to think she was physically twenty years old. Konoha had needed to adjust too. She knew that she didn't look all that much different, but most of these people had never met a young Jiraiya. Tsunade couldn't help smiling at that thought. She was glad that Jiraiya had been affected by the jutsu as well. It was nice not to be alone in this. And she had to admit that being young again had its advantages. Especially when it came to things like all night meetings. However, she should have known there would be strings attached.

Tsunade was in denial. She could guess what the cause of her symptoms was, but she didn't want to believe it. For the past two weeks she had been nauseous every morning, more tired than usual, and having odd cravings. She also was almost a month late for her period. Tsunade was too good of a medic not to know what the most likely cause was. However, she wasn't ready to face it at all.

Her new romantic relationship with Jiraiya had been a nice side effect to being young again. Or at least it had been until now. They had both taken it as an opportunity to change some decisions they had made, and Tsunade had been extremely happy. They weren't married or anything, but it was a serious relationship. Jiraiya lived with her now when he was in Konoha, and truthfully, for all intents and purposes, they acted like they were married. Of course, Sarutobi-sensei had long ago claimed that they had always bickered like a married couple.

But children were not a topic either of them had discussed. Tsunade hadn't exactly planned on children. Of course, she hadn't planned on being twenty again either. Truthfully, she hadn't really thought about it much. At least until her birth control failed. Now she didn't exactly have a choice. She was pregnant. Tsunade sighed. The idea of aborting this child was completely abhorrent. However, her having a child would change things once again, and Tsunade wasn't at all sure how to handle it. There had never had been a pregnant Hokage before. Of course, there had never been a female Hokage before either.

Tsunade sighed and glanced down at her paperwork. She was going to have to make some decisions sooner or later. She wasn't going to be able to keep this to herself for much longer. It was something of a wonder that neither Shizune nor Sakura had mentioned anything. Tsunade finished with the current report and reached for another one. Her morning sickness chose that moment to strike, and Tsunade dashed from her office, ignoring anyone she passed on her way to the bathroom. Kneeling over the toilet, Tsunade heaved up what little she had eaten for breakfast.

"Hime?" A familiar voice came from just outside.

Tsunade just moan slightly in response to Jiraiya's inquiry. The door opened then shut again. She felt one of his hands smoothing her hair back from her face. His touch was soothing, even if it didn't make her feel that much better.

"Tsunade, what's wrong, Princess?"

She heaved again. Jiraiya ran water in the sink and offered her a cool, wet towel to wipe her face with. When she didn't throw up again, Tsunade decided it was safe enough to move away from the toilet. She stood up carefully and turned to face Jiraiya. His eyes were concerned, and he carefully wrapped his arms around her.

"What's wrong, Tsunade? I don't think I've seen you this sick since we were in the academy."

Tsunade leaned into him. "Can we talk some place else?"

He gave her a long look. "Yes. In fact, I think you need a break from the office too. Let's go home."

She wasn't going to argue the point with him. Besides, Tsunade would rather have this conversation in the comfort of their home. There was less chance of someone eavesdropping on them there as well. The two of them managed to slip out of the office unseen. Once home, Tsunade sank into a chair and tried to figure out how to begin. She still hadn't decided how to deal with this when Jiraiya had found her. Jiraiya settled on the floor in front on her.

"So, Princess, what's going on? Because we both know you don't typically get sick."

"I'm not sick. Not really. The nausea is a side effect."

He frowned. "A side effect of what?"

Tsunade bit her lip. Her words came out in a whisper. "I'm pregnant."

Jiraiya blinked. "You're pregnant. As in having a baby?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Our baby? Yours and mine."

Tsunade nodded again. The next thing she knew Jiraiya had carefully gathered her into his arms. He kissed her forehead then her cheeks and then her lips. Tsunade let out a soft sigh and relaxed into him. This was a good reaction to her news, and she could feel some of her worries leave her. Parenthood wasn't quite as scary when she knew she wasn't alone. Jiraiya pressed a gentle hand to her stomach.

"How long do you think?"

"I'm probably only four to six weeks along. That gives us about eight months before the baby is due."

"Does anyone else know?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I haven't told anyone besides you, and if Shizune or Sakura have any suspicions, they haven't mentioned them to me."

"Hmm." He nuzzled her neck.

Tsunade placed on hand on top of his where it touched her stomach. "I'll probably have to make an official announcement about it in another six weeks. Once the first trimester is over, most pregnancies are fairly risk free."

It would mean changes for both of them. Tsunade was fairly safe. She was Hokage, and as such she had quite a bit of protection. But Jiraiya was often out on missions on his own. He was not the type for senseless heroics, but he would do what he needed to in order for Konoha to be safe. And Tsunade didn't want their child to grow up without a father. Jiraiya kissed the top of her head.

"Stop worrying so much, Tsunade. We all are going to be just fine. You, me, and our baby. Our family. So," she could hear the grin in his voice, "boy or girl?"


	4. Miracles Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 18: Endless.

**Miracles Happen**

Jiraiya was familiar with pain. Most ninja were. So he was doing his best to ignore the pain in his hand. Somehow he didn't think that Tsunade would appreciate his complaints. And he didn't dare leave. Tsunade would definitely kill him for that. Another contraction hit, and she gripped his hand even harder. He thought he could hear his bones cracking.

When Tsunade had told him she was pregnant, Jiraiya had been thrilled. Truth be told, he had been thrilled since the attack that turned them both into teenagers again, and Tsunade had agreed to try a relationship with him. He honestly didn't think he'd ever been happier. He had a relationship with the woman he had always loved, and now they were having a child together. He hadn't quite realized what it would entail. Jiraiya had taken the morning sickness and mood swings in stride, and Tsunade's odd cravings weren't really that bad even if they did strike at the oddest times.

But he hadn't taken labor into consideration. Tsunade had realized her contractions had started at about two this morning. By nine her water had broken. It was now almost lunch time, and he wasn't sure if the end was in sight. It just seemed endless. And he wasn't the one actually giving birth. Tsunade had his hand trapped in her own, and Jiraiya didn't think he was going anywhere until the baby was actually born or she tore his hand off, whichever came first. Jiraiya was beginning to think that surviving childbirth was an act of heroism.

"You're doing just fine, Tsunade," Sakura said in a soothing voice. "We're almost done. On the next contraction, I need you to push as hard as you can."

Tsunade's grip on his hand tightened as she bit her lip.

"The baby's head is out! Just a little more."

Tsunade whimpered. Jiraiya squeezed her hand back. "Come on, Princess. It's almost over."

Moments later Sakura was wrapping the baby in a soft blanket. She smiled at them.

"You have a healthy little girl." Sakura held out the little bundle to him. "Would you like to hold her, Papa?"

He held up his hand. "Why don't you give her to her mother. I think I need some splints first."

Tsunade blushed but took their daughter. As Shizune dealt with his hand, Jiraiya watched the two of them. Tsunade looked pale and exhausted, but there was a content glow about her as she held their child in her arms. She looked up at him with a breathtaking smile.

"Come here and see your daughter, Jiraiya."

It was an order he was all too willing to follow. He settled beside Tsunade on the bed, kissing her cheek, and took in his little girl. A soft blond fuzz covered the top of her head, and her eyes were dark.

"Do you have a name picked out?" Shizune asked.

"Miyako." Tsunade answered without taking her eyes off their baby.

Jiraiya smiled down at his daughter and brush her cheek with a gentle finger. "Hello, Miya-hime."


	5. Tell Me a Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 14: Kiss a Frog.

**Tell Me a Story**

Miyako was not a happy camper. The six year old had come down with chicken pox, and Jiraiya had been delegated to nurse her. It wasn't the worst thing he had ever had to deal with, but he was beginning to run out of idea on how to entertain the little girl.

"Tell me a story, Daddy." She was just as imperious as her mother at times.

Jiraiya stroked his daughter's hair. "What kind of story would you like?"

Miyako clutched the stuffed frog that Naruto had given her for her first birthday, considering the question seriously. "A fairytale with an enchanted prince and a happy ending."

"Let's see." He racked his brain for a story that fit her description. When none matched exactly, he decided to make something up. "Once upon a time, there was a prince. He was very handsome, strong, and clever, and he was very fond of women. A little too fond perhaps as he never seemed to be able to make up his mind on which woman he loved best. Finally, a wise old woman tired of his fickle nature and placed the prince under a curse. She turned him into a frog."

Miyako coughed weakly, snuggling into her pillow. Jiraiya continued.

"The wise woman told him that he would never be a man again unless a woman chose to love him as a frog and kissed him. She also told him that he would be able to work magic now, but only for someone he truly loved. The prince spent several years trying to find a woman who would kiss him and turn him back, but there were none who would. So the prince found himself a nice pond and settled down to wait, hoping that the right woman would come along."

"Then what?" Miya demanded.

He paused a moment. "The wood where the frog prince had found his pond actually was next to the palace gardens of the neighboring kingdom. Now this kingdom was in trouble. Their king was very old, and he had no son to follow after him. He did have three daughters however. All three of them were beautiful beyond compare. The eldest was incredibly strong and a mighty warrior. The middle daughter was clever and sneaky and was extremely adept with politics though fair and just. And the youngest daughter was a healer of great skill. But the laws of the kingdom said that only a male could sit on the throne."

There was an indignant snort at that. Jiraiya looked up. Naruto was now perched in the window sill while Sakura and Sasuke sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow but kept telling the story.

"So the king decided to devise a contest to find his heir. Each of his daughters would shoot an arrow into the air. The man who found the arrow would be their husband. Then he would give them three tasks. Whoever ended up with the best husband would be the one whose husband would be king. The eldest daughter's arrow was found by the general of the king's army while the middle daughter's arrow would found by one of the royal councilors. However, the youngest daughter's arrow went off into the woods, and when she finally found it, it was by the frog prince's pond."

Hinata had joined Naruto on the window.

"When she found the arrow there, the youngest princess was disheartened. Did this mean that she wasn't to have a husband? The frog prince was rather enchanted by her beauty and found that he couldn't bear to see her so sad. So he asked her what was wrong. The princess was startled to hear a frog speak, but she told him the tale. He considered this then told her that since the arrow had landed by his pond, that he would be her husband. The princess was touched by his offer, but she gently told him that there would still be the three tasks to accomplish, and she didn't want to see him humiliates by her father's court. They could be cruel sometimes."

Tenten let out a soft, "Aw."

Jiraiya blinked. There were now six ninja sitting in Miya's bedroom listening to the story. Didn't they have something better to do? Still, he kept telling the tale.

"But the frog insisted, and so the youngest princess to the frog back to the palace with her. Her sisters laughed when they save her bridegroom, and even her father offered her a way out. But the princess insisted on going through with the marriage. The king had declared that whoever found her arrow would marry her after all, and she would not have him break his word. So the youngest princess and the frog prince were married along with her sisters and their bridegrooms. The day after the weddings the king named the first task. The men were to find a piece of cloth so fine that it could pass through a wedding ring."

Miya's eyes were wide as were those of most of the other ninja in the room.

"The general and the royal councilor immediately set off to find the finest weavers that they could. The frog asked his wife to take him out to the palace garden. The frog hopped into the lily pond, and when he returned he brought with him a golden walnut. He gave this to the princess and told her to open it when the time came to present the fabric to the king. The time finally came, and the General presented his fabric first. While it was fine linen, not even an inch of it could fit through a wedding ring. Then the royal councilor presented his fabric. It was fine cambric, but only half of the cloth was able to pass through the ring. The youngest princess cracked open the walnut and drew out a length of fine silk. It easily passed through the ring."

A soft sigh came from Shizune.

"The frog prince had won the first challenge, but there were still two more. The king announced that the next task would be to find a sword that could slice through stone in one strike. The general and the royal councilor immediately set off in search of the finest sword makers that they could find. The frog once again asked his princess to take him out to the palace gardens. This time when the frog returned from the pond, he gave the princess a silver hazelnut. The time to present the swords finally came. The general presented his sword first, a heavy broadsword, and it managed to cut an inch into the stone. Then the royal councilor presented his sword, a light rapier that was polished so brightly it shown. It barely made a scratch on the stone. The youngest princess cracked open the hazelnut and drew out a slim sword made of shining steel. With one swing it cut the stone clear in half."

Tenten grabbed Neji's hand. Jiraiya did a swift head count. He now had an audience of one sick little girl and seven ninja.

"The frog prince had won again, and the king announced the last challenge. They were each to find the kingdom's greatest treasure. The general and the royal councilor immediately set off in search of this treasure. The frog prince asked his wife if she would take him with her when she made her rounds at the infirmary. Puzzled, the princess asked if he needed to search for the kingdom's greatest treasure. The frog assured her that he already knew what it was. So the princess went about her self appointed duties working with the kingdom's other healers, the frog riding in her pocket."

Kakashi motioned for Shizune to scoot over so he would have some place to sit. The room was beginning to be rather full, and Jiraiya wasn't sure how many more people they were going to be able to fit in here. He really wasn't sure why most of them had stuck around in the first place. Still, there wasn't much else to do except keep telling the story.

"The time finally came for the three husbands to present the kingdom's greatest treasure. The general went first, presenting a selection of jewels and precious metals from the kingdom's mines. Then the royal councilor presented several scrolls from the kingdom's vast library. Finally it was the frog prince's turn. His wife held her breath when he presented nothing. Instead the frog told the king that the kingdom's greatest treasures were his three daughters who protected, guided, and took care of the people of the kingdom. There was a moment of silence then the king announced that the frog had won the contest. The general and the royal councilor immediately began to complain about having a frog for a king, but the youngest princess was so happy that she kissed the top of the frog's head. Almost immediately the prince found himself transformed back to his original body."

"So this is where all my ninja disappeared to." Tsunade stood in the doorway.

Several of the ninja listening to the story shushed her. Tsunade raised and eyebrow, and Jiraiya hurried to finish the story. Miyako had been asleep before he had gotten halfway through it anyway.

"So the spell was broken, and the frog prince and his bride ruled the kingdom once the old king had died, and they lived happily ever after."

Tsunade leaned against the doorframe, smiling. "All right you lot, the story is over happy ending and all. Everyone out. Quietly. Or you'll have babysitting duty until Miyako is well again."

It didn't take long for the room to empty. Once everyone was gone, Tsunade made her way over to him. With a gentle smile she checked on the sleeping Miyako before drawing Jiraiya out of the room.

Tsunade smiled at him. "So do you have a story for me too? One with a toad for a hero perhaps instead of a frog?"

He laughed and kissed her. "I'm sure I can come up with something."


	6. One Last Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 25: Melody.

**One Last Dance**

Tsunade stood in the doorway watching her daughter sleep. Miyako had turned thirteen last month. She was planning on taking the chuunin exam next year. Tsunade was so proud of her. Miya hadn't let her parents' fame and skills dictate her own path. She had found the aspects that she enjoyed the most and that she had the talent for and put her time and energy into those. She had also managed to form strong bonds with the other ninja in her three man cell. Her daughter had a good life.

And that was why they needed to do this. Tsunade tiptoed into her daughter's room. She knelt beside the sleeping child and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, Miya. I'm so lucky I got a chance to have you in my life."

She knelt there a moment more, not ready to leave yet. Tsunade hated to leave her like this, but it was easier this way. She didn't think she'd be able to leave if Miya was awake. With a soft sigh, Tsunade rose to her feet and made her way over to the door where Jiraiya was waiting for her. She slid her hand into his as she closed the bedroom door behind her. They were not going to see their daughter again.

There was a threat to Konoha. One that needed to be dealt with before it reached the village. And she and Jiraiya were the best way to deal with this enemy with the least loss of life. In fact, if this worked the way they thought it would, there would only be three deaths tonight: their enemy's and their own. Tsunade was fairly certain that it was one of the hardest decisions that they had ever made, but when faced with the fact that them not taking this route could possible cost their daughter her future, the decision had been made. They hadn't told the others. They would have tried to argue, and time was important. Naruto was a good Hokage, but both she and Jiraiya knew that he would have a hard time seeing past the fact of who they were. He had already lost so much, and now he was going to lose them as well.

Jiraiya pulled her into his arms, holding her close. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him just as tight. They had always known that they might have to sacrifice their lives at some point. It was still hard to let go of the life they had been living though. Miyako's future was worth it though. Tsunade was willing to give anything for her little girl to have a chance at a full and happy life. So was Jiraiya. He would do just about anything for his daughter. They both would.

Tsunade tilted her head up and kissed Jiraiya fiercely. Then they broke the embrace and slipped out into the night. Konoha was not silent as they made their way through the streets. Tsunade could hear a melody coming from one of the bars and happy laughter. That was how things should be here. After tomorrow there would probably be a few more songs. Ones about the end of the last two of the legendary Sannin and their final heroic battle. Their final dance together against Konoha's enemies. Tsunade didn't mind. Those songs would mean her daughter was safe. Jiraiya squeezed her hand, and she nodded. It was time.


	7. Quiet Early Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 16: All Your Life.

**Quiet Early Morning**

Miya moved quietly in the predawn light. She didn't want to wake anyone else up. She didn't make these early morning visits very often, but when she did, she appreciated the solitude. It was easy enough to slip on a light yukata and quietly slip out of the house. The young woman could the sun just barely peeking over the horizon as she made her way through the streets of Konoha. There were very few people out and about at this time of day, and none of them paid much mind to the seventeen year old.

She knew where she was heading. While there were two main monuments in Konoha, there was also a third much smaller one. It was a small memorial and a simple one. Her parents would have approved. Miyako doubted they would want anything fancy. In their minds, they had simply been doing their duty to Konoha. Four years ago, Jiraiya and Tsunade have sacrificed themselves in order to save Konoha from a serious threat. Miya was quite aware that if they hadn't the death toll could have been enormous. She still missed them though.

Her various adopted aunts and uncles had stepped into take care of her, and Miya appreciated it. She did miss her parents, but she was also pretty happy. Her life was a good one. She mostly made these trips once or twice a year to remember. Miya carefully tended the little memorial. She spoke as she worked, filling them in on the latest news in Konoha.

"There are several new babies. Poor Uncle Sasuke. He's going to go crazy with all his girls. Especially when they get old enough to date. He's up to four now. They latest baby turned out to be twins. I almost feel sorry for Akira. He's the only boy in the family besides Sasuke. Uncle Naruto also has a new daughter. Of course, that means he now has two boys and two girls. One of the boys is named after you, you know, Dad."

She grinned at that. Little Jiraiya was going to have a lot to live up to. So was little Minato, the other of Naruto's sons. She had been lucky. No one had pressured her to walk one of her parents' paths. Miyako had been allowed to find her own talents and develop them. She considered herself a fairly talented ninja, but she wasn't legendary like her parents. And that didn't mother Miyako one bit. Her parents were heroes yes. She'd known that all her life, but sometimes she didn't think being a hero was worth the price they paid. Miyako was much happier being just an ordinary ninja.

Miya continued the task of tending the little memorial, keeping up a steady stream of the latest gossip and going ons in Konoha. She finished with a sigh and for a moment just stood looking at the memorial. She missed her parents, but they had given their lives so she would have a chance to have a future. Miyako planned on living a happy life for them.

"Well, I guess that's it for now." Miya smiled, and for a moment she almost thought she saw the images of her parents smiling back at her. Then it vanished as the breeze picked up, brushing against her face like a kiss on her cheek. Miya nodded and headed home.


	8. Barely Tolerable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theme 21: Good Company?.

**Barely Tolerable**

There were a number of reasons Tsunade had not wanted to be Hokage. This was one of them. She hated these events with a passion. Tsunade did not consider herself a diplomat in any way, shape, or form, and being stuck all evening a formal dinner with a bunch of leaders from a number of neighboring villages was not her idea of fun. She was a legendary ninja for heaven's sake. This was not what she had signed up for when she had entered the ninja academy.

At least she wasn't suffering alone tonight. Jiraiya had been drafted as her escort for the evening, so he was stuck here too. Jiraiya served a dual purpose. He was entertainment for, and he was a bodyguard as well as her escort. Despite the fact that she was an adult and quite capable of taking care of herself, she always had to have an escort no matter what function she attended. It was yet another reason she disliked her job. At least with Jiraiya as her escort she knew what to expect. And she might get a laugh or two out of the evening.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at her, and Tsunade refocused her attention on the discussion at hand. It was mind numbingly boring, but she probably should at least look like she was paying attention. She'd just have to find something to keep her awake. Feeling rather mischievous, she kicked Jiraiya lightly under the table. He didn't blink. Curious to see just how long it would take to get a visible response, Tsunade kicked him again, a little harder this time. Still no response. She kicked him harder. His eyebrow twitched.

Then he kicked her foot under the table. Tsunade took it as the challenge it was. She kicked back. Things escalated from there. Tsunade took great care to keep her face from showing that she was engaged in a rather juvenile past time to keep from being bored out of her mind. Somehow, she didn't think that the other dinner guests would appreciate it. That particular game was put to a halt when her foot accidentally hit the guest on her other side. The man turned and looked at her, but Tsunade gave him her most innocent look, and he seemed to forget about it.

She didn't have to worry about boredom setting back in though. Jiraiya instigated the next game consisted on seeing if they could flick peas onto other people's plates without being noticed. The night continued that way with the two of them finding another game to play every time their current one was close to being discovered. Tsunade would admit that she had never had more fun at one of these affairs. The hardest part really was keeping from laughing until they were making their way home.

Tsunade kissed his cheek as they strolled towards her home. "My hero rescuing state dinners from boredom. So, are you coming to the one next week?"

Jiraiya laughed. "Sure, Hime. It was fun. It was almost like that time on the mission to the daimyo's castle? The one where you convinced Orochimaru to dress in drag."

Tsunade laughed at the memory. He was right. They had behaved very much like they had at thirteen. She couldn't call him good company since they really had been anything but. Still, he was fun company, and in her mind that was more important.


	9. Fools In Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU. Theme 2: Fall From Grace/Glory.

**Fools in Love**

Once upon a time, there was a great clan of ninja. This clan had amassed many followers. So many in fact that they had become more of a nation than a clan. Now the current leaders of the clan that had founded this nation were growing older, and they felt it was time to turn over leadership to the next generation. However, there was only one heir to the clan at this time, a young ninja named Tsunade.

Tsunade was a very talented healer, but she really wasn't much of a leader. That was all right by her. She knew her talents didn't lie in that direction. And because of this, her elders decided that before they could turn over leadership to the younger generation, Tsunade must get married. Truthfully, Tsunade wasn't really that thrilled about it. She didn't want to be a leader, and she certainly didn't want to marry simply because her husband would be a leader. She wanted to be seen for who she was, not for her position, and she wanted to be loved for just who she was. There was more to it than just her personal feelings though. She had to choose what she thought was best for her people and herself.

It wasn't an easy task. Especially since the elders had found a candidate that they really wanted her to marry. Orochimaru was an excellent ninja, but Tsunade wasn't sure he was a decent person. Her husband would be a leader, and Tsunade couldn't afford to have questions about him. Especially not about his ethics. She just couldn't bring herself to trust the man. If she had to marry someone, right now Tsunade would pick Jiraiya. He was a major flirt and rarely seemed to take anything seriously. But he was an extremely skilled ninja even if his personality was what people saw rather than his accomplishments. What really struck Tsunade about the man though was his compassion and humanity. His students almost universally adored him when he took his turn leading a three ninja cell of gennin, and he was never too busy for them, even when they hadn't been students for years. And it didn't hurt that she had something of a crush on the man.

Convincing other people that he was the right choice though was going to be a difficult task. And she also needed to tell Jiraiya that she wanted to marry him. She hadn't gotten around actually telling him that piece of information. Which put her in something of a dilemma. Who did she talk to about this whole mess first? The elders or Jiraiya? If Jiraiya said no, there was no reason to convince the elders, but if the elders wouldn't approve the marriage, where would that leave her?

In the end, it was Jiraiya she decided to tackle first. He was slightly less intimidating than the elders. The young man looked at her quizzically.

"I'm sorry. Did I hear you correctly? I though you said you wanted to marry me." He sounded genuinely confused.

Tsunade sighed and took his hand in her own. "I don't really have a choice about getting married, but if I have do go through with it, it will be on my terms. I need a partner that I can trust. I know that I can trust you. I can't say that of Orochimaru."

"But why me?" He smiled wryly at her. "Surely there are better candidates."

To his surprise, she smiled and cupped his face. "Because there is more to you than others see. Because you see Tsunade, not just the heir to the clan."

He kissed her gently. "I'm honored, princess."

Her elders weren't as impressed nor as easily impressed. In fact, they were downright annoyed.

"This is your choice?"

"Yes." Tsunade nodded.

There were frowns all around. Tsunade kept from biting her lip by sheer force of will.

"You were aware that we had our own choice of husband for you."

Tsunade squared her jaw. "I cannot accept Orochimaru as my husband. I have too many questions about his ethics to feel comfortable making him the de facto leader of our people."

That clearly was not something that the elders wanted to hear. The frowns deepened, and Tsunade found herself holding her breath. She was getting the feeling that something was seriously wrong here.

"Is that your final decision on this matter?"

They way the question was asked made her extremely uncomfortable. Tsunade did not think she was going to like what was about to happen. But she wasn't going to change her mind. She couldn't in good conscience.

"Yes."

"Then we have no choice."

Tsunade found the next half hour of her life almost a complete blur. She was aware of one thing though. She had been disinherited, and Orochimaru was given leadership anyway. Stepping out of the council room, Tsunade felt like collapsing. She was completely drained of energy. And she hadn't anticipated the crowd that was gathered outside.

An older ninja stepped forward; Tsunade recognized him as one of the main teachers of the young ninja.

"Princess, we heard of the elder's decision. However, we would rather choose to follow you and Jiraiya than Orochimaru. We will follow you into exile."

* * *

"And so Tsunade found herself and Jiraiya leading about half of the people who had once allied themselves with her clan off into the wilderness to find a new home. Jiraiya and Tsunade never ended up finding a place to settle however. It was there son, who we all now know as the first Hokage that finally chose a place for them all to settle, and that was the beginning of the history of Konoha," she finished. "And now it is time for the little ninja to go to bed."

"Are you named after the princess in the story?" Minato, Naruto and Hinata's oldest son asked.

She smiled. "Yes, Minato. I am. She was my great-grandmother."

"Is Jiraiya named after the ninja in the story?" That was Akira, Sakura and Sasuke's youngest.

Tsunade smiled down at Minato's youngest sibling who was currently asleep in his lap. "Not exactly. He was named after my Jiraiya who is named after the ninja in the story, though my Jiraiya was a hero in his own right. Now, it's time to sleep."

She finished tucking the children in and turned out the light. "Sweet dreams."


	10. Sweet Baby James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 7: Recruitment.

**Sweet Baby James**

Jiraiya sighed and glanced down at toddler in his arms. The child was not yet awake. He had taken to their road trip rather well for a two year old, but Jiraiya was having third and fourth thoughts about his whole plan now. It had been a spur of the moment plan to scoop Naruto up and take him with him when he left Konoha. It probably hadn't been the wisest plan either, but he couldn't leave his godson there. Naruto was his godson, and he wasn't about to let those people treat him like scum. Jiraiya had lost Minato. Hadn't even been there to perhaps help his favorite student. But he could protect and care for Minato's son.

He just hoped that Tsunade hadn't moved on yet. Ever since she had disappeared from Konoha, Jiraiya had kept as best track of her as he could. He needed her help now. He hadn't been thinking about anything except getting Naruto away from those people. Oh, Iruka had been doing the best that he could, but Jiraiya was not going to let his godson grow up in a place where he was always going to be seen as barely a step above a demon instead of as part of his father's heroic sacrifice. A sigh left his lips as the country inn came into sight.

Being in something over his head was not exactly a new experience for Jiraiya, but this time the price he could pay for screwing up was too high. He knew he needed help, and hopefully, Tsunade knew something more about raising children than he did. At he knew that she knew about their health. Working with children had been one of her favorite duties as a medic nin. Thankfully, all it took was a little cash to find out what room Tsunade was in. Jiraiya made his way to the door and knocked.

* * *

Tsunade had not been expecting visitors, and she wasn't entirely happy that she had them. She yanked the door open and froze in shock. Jiraiya with a little blond two year old in his arms was not at all who she had expected. Nor were the first words out of his mouth.

"Minato is dead."

Tsunade covered her mouth. "I'd heard rumors but nothing definite. Come in."

She led them into her current rooms. Poor Jiraiya. Minato had practically been his son. She took a second glance at the child in his arms. "Then this is his son?"

Jiraiya nodded. "And Kyuubi's vessel. Everyone in Konoha knows about the latter but not the former. I know Sensei had his reasons for leaving things that way, but I couldn't leave him there. Not when he was being shunned by just about everyone."

She could understand that. The child was practically Jiraiya's grandson. And Jiraiya probably wasn't in any shape to be making clear decisions. He had come home to a mess, and she knew him well enough to know that he hadn't dealt with his own grief yet. She gently took the child from him, setting the boy on her hip. He reached for one of her pigtails and studied her with clear blue eyes.

"Well, you definitely have your father's good looks, sweetheart."

"His name is Naruto." Jiraiya's voice was soft.

Tsunade knew the significance of the name. "It's a good name."

Her first order of business was to get Naruto to tale a nap. Once she had settled him sleeping happily on her own futon, she could take care of Jiraiya. Her friend and former teammate needed to grieve his own loss before he'd be able to move on and manage taking care of a toddler. Taking his hands in her own, Tsunade led him to the door that faced a little courtyard garden. Tsunade's rooms were the only ones with access it. She sat him down on the porch, leaving the door open so she'd hear if Naruto woke up.

"Jiraiya," she kept her voice gentle and soft, "tell me."

So he told everything he'd been able to piece together, everything he'd learned, and everything he'd been told, and she held him while he cried and raged, mourning his adopted son. Tsunade knew that this was not something she could heal, but she would give him what support he needed. When Jiraiya had cried himself out, Tsunade coaxed him to lay down and rest some. He was asleep within minutes. Tsunade kissed his forehead and covered him with blanket.

* * *

Jiraiya woke to the sound of Tsunade singing. The sight he found just inside the room was enough to melt his heart. Naruto was curled up in Tsunade's lap, watching wide-eyed as she entertained him with a children's finger play. With the illusion of her younger self that she wore, Tsunade looked very much like she could be the child's mother. Naruto saw him and gurgled, waving his hands. Tsunade turned and smiled at him.

"Feeling a little better?"

He nodded. "Yes, thank you. I see you've had no trouble with him."

"Not yet anyway." Tsunade motioned for him to sit beside her. "Now, what are you're plans, and do you really think I'm going to let you raise a child on your own?"

Jiraiya laughed for the first time in days. He had known coming to Tsunade was the right choice. They'd figure out how to handle this together.


	11. Study Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 5: Library Archives.

**Study Break**

Graduate school was really an attempt to kill off as many students as possible without attracting the attention of the law. Tsunade had decided this during finals week her first term of graduate school. Midterms weren't as bad as finals, but they were still evil. Tsunade set her reading glasses aside and rubbed her temples. The young med student could feel a migraine coming on. Midterms were getting to her. Tsunade was actually mildly surprised that she hadn't snapped and killed her professors yet. She had been in the library archives for the last five or six hours researching information for one of her midterm papers. At this point, she was beginning to think she had been studying too long. The page in front of her really didn't read 'paranoid squirrels hump cats', did it?

She sighed, stretching her arms over her head. Her back and shoulders were killing her. Clearly, humans were not designed to spend hours upon hours hunched over books. Tsunade had the strong urge to set fire to the library. It really would be a service to everyone at the university. A pair of strong hands began to knead the muscles at her neck.

"You really need to get up and stretch at least once every hour," Jiraiya informed her, repeating advice she had often given him.

"Parroting my advice back to me will not win you any points."

Jiraiya laughed. He was in the midst of getting a masters' of fine arts in creative writing. They had been friends since middle school though. In fact, Jiraiya was probably her best friend, even if she wouldn't have admitted it aloud. They had always been closer, even if that meant close to killing one another at times. And he had appointed himself to task of making sure she did not spend her entire time in medical school glued to her work.

Jiraiya rubbed her shoulders. "Come on, Princess. We'll get a nice hot meal and watch a silly movie. I bet you haven't eaten since breakfast."

She sighed. "I really have to get this done. Maybe in an hour or so."

He stole her reading glasses. "You're not going to become the next hero of the medical field by burning yourself out. You have plenty of time, and you need a break."

He did have a point, but she was reluctant to leave the paper unfinished. She still had other tests to study for.

"I've got both _Flash Gordon_ and _Mystery Science Theater's the Beginning of the End_. We can pick up some of those noodles you like so much on the way home," he wheedled.

Tsunade glanced down at the pile of reading she still had to do and considered the effort of going back to it. It was not appealing.

"All right."

Jiraiya smiled and kissed her forehead. "Good. You need a serious study break."

He helped her tided up the little study room she had been assigned and lock it up before leading her out of the library. Tsunade took a deep breath of fresh air.

"Thanks, Jiraiya."

"No problem, Princess."


	12. A Little Night Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 20: Sing.

**A Little Night Music**

Tsunade was torn between amusement and horror. This was not going to be pretty. Midterms were now over, and it was time for fun. Or at least that was what her friends had told her. This still didn't explain why she had agreed to join a group of her friends at a karaoke bar. Thankfully, it was one of those with private rooms for small parties. That at least would keep some of the chaos contained. Alcohol, a karaoke machine, and these people weren't exactly the best combination.

"Why are we doing this again?" She asked Jiraiya. "Didn't we vow never to do this again with them after the time Naruto started stripping with singing _I'm Too Sexy_?"

"You lost a bet," her best friend reminded her. "You promised Sakura that if you got anything less than a perfect score on the autopsy lab, that she could pick the midterm celebration outing."

"Right." Tsunade sighed. "It's not my fault I got a defective corpse."

There were about a dozen of them stuffed into the room. There really weren't enough seats for everyone which was how Tsunade had ended up sitting on Jiraiya's lap. The floor had already been occupied. Drinks had been ordered when they arrived, and they also had a standing order for a bottomless pitcher of beer. That had been nearly two hours ago. Things had degenerated from there. Tsunade was pretty sure that she and Jiraiya were the only ones who weren't completely schnockered. That mostly had to do with the fact that they both had sense and that they were kind of snobs when it came to alcohol. One of the things they had in common was a preference for good sake over just about any other type of drink.

So while, they'd both had a drink or two, they weren't in a state that would lead one to belt out _I Will Possess Your Heart_ like Hinata and Sakura currently were. At least those two could actually sing though. As much as Tsunade enjoyed spending time with her friends, singing was not a talent that all of them possessed. It was safer to do something else as a group activity like bowling. In fact, she was still surprised that no one had bleeding ears from Kakashi's rendition of _Secret Agent Man_ or Gai's version of _I'm Too Sexy_. Naruto was currently trying to find a song that was, in his words, "emo enough" for Sasuke.

There was little chance of anyone else remembering exactly what had gone on here tonight, which Tsunade considered something of a shame. For instance, Naruto had done a lovely job of singing _Big Girls Don't Cry_ with a pair of rolled up socks stuffed in his shirt to make fake breaks. Or even Orochimaru who had somehow been convinced to sing _Dude Looks Like a Lady_. She could have gotten years of blackmail out of those if she only had some evidence. As the two girls turned the microphone over to Lee, Jiraiya nudged her.

"Move your arm, would you? I can't get a clear shot."

Tsunade bit her lip and glance down to see a slim digital camera in Jiraiya's hand. He winked at her. Tsunade grinned back and moved her arm.

"My hero."

They had evidence; this was going to be fun. There was no way they were going to let anyone live this night down. It seemed like appropriate revenge for being forced to sing that stupid milkshake song to her.


	13. The Great Author

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 6: Magnifying Glass.

**The Great Author**

Jiraiya smiled as he penned the inscription. He signed it with a flourish then carefully shut the book. It was his first book. He'd had short stories and articles published before, but not a book. He was more than a little proud of it. He had been startled by the offer from the publishing company. He wasn't quite done with his master's degree yet, but at this point there was only a few formalities left to go through. He smiled at the book in his hand. Time to deliver it to its owner. The book was dedicated to Tsunade. She was his muse after all, and the first copy was going to be hers. He had even signed it for her. Now the question was just how to give it to her. Tsunade was currently buried under a pile of books for her final research paper of the term, and she wasn't going to take kindly to any sort of interruption.

In the end what he did was come bearing caffeine. While Tsunade was busy inhaling the large mocha he had brought her, Jiraiya carefully placed the book among the medical texts she was reading. She'd get to it eventually, and it would be more of a surprise that way. He headed back to his own apartment whistling. It was a pretty good beginning to his career as an author.

* * *

Tsunade couldn't quite believe what she held in her hands. She had reached for the next book in her pile only to find a hardback novel with her best friend's name on it. Curious about what Jiraiya was up to now (probably another prank), she'd open it up. In fact, she had opened the book to the dedication. It read: _To Tsunade – Thanks for the inspiration, Princess._ Jiraiya's signature was found below that. It was then that she realized that he had finally gotten a book published.

Then she had started reading it. That had been a mistake. There was no way she was going to get any studying done until she finished the book. It had just sucked her in. It was a pretty good story even if she thought the romance was a little overplayed. It wasn't quite a bodice ripper, but it did get quite steamy at times. But it wasn't bad, especially for his first book. And he'd dedicated it to her. Tsunade couldn't help but feeling touched. Deciding to give up on her paper for tonight, Tsunade grabbed her purse and was out the door before she could think about it. Besides, she needed a break from studying anyway.

Jiraiya's apartment was not that far from her own. Tsunade knocked loudly on the door. Jiraiya opened the door, and she didn't give him a chance to think. She thumped him on the chest with his new book.

"Congratulations, oh great author." Tsunade giggled and kissed his cheek. "You can buy me dinner to celebrate."

Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair and grinned at her. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

She shook her head. "Ah, but I'm the poor med student. You're now the new author."

He laughed. "Let me get my wallet."

Tsunade leaned against the doorframe. "Besides, I don't need a magnifying glass to see that you based the hero's love interest off me. Since I won't be getting any royalties for that, the least you can do is buy me food."

Jiraiya laughed, rejoining her. He slid an arm around her waist. "All right then, Princess, what's your pleasure for dinner?"

"How does that new fondue restaurant sound?"

They headed down the street, Tsunade continuing to needle Jiraiya about his new accomplishment. She still had that paper to finish, but it wasn't due till next week.


	14. Take It Easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 11: Needle.

**Take It Easy**

Tsunade nervously fidgeted in her seat. Her number was almost up, and she was having fourth and fifth thoughts about this. She should have never let Orochimaru goad her into agreeing to do this. It was the annual school blood drive, and she had agreed to donate. She was going to be a doctor. This shouldn't bother her so much. She just didn't like blood. It was a flaw for a medical student, but it was true. And under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be anywhere near this event. However, Orochimaru had spent the last week taunting her about it, and Tsunade had rashly committed herself to this course of action.

Jiraiya reached over and squeezed her hand. "Stop looking so worried, Princess. It'll be just fine."

She grumbled a response to him. Jiraiya had no problems with this sort of thing which always irked her.

He held onto her hand. "It won't be that bad. You did volunteer for this."

"I know."

"Come on, Princess. You're not going to let Orochimaru win this one, are you?"

She made a face him. "No."

His number was called. Jiraiya let go of her hand and rose to his feet. "You will be just fine, Tsunade. I'll see you at the cookie table afterwards."

Watching him go, Tsunade sighed. It had been nice to have someone to wait with. Now it just her and her thoughts. That was not a recipe to keep her from worrying. She dug a book out of her purse and began to read. Tsunade wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she had finished two more chapters when they finally called her number. Tsunade managed to get through all of the prep and even the nurse putting in the needle all right, but when she saw her blood start to flow through the tube, Tsunade could feel panic rising in her.

Something in her face must have told her nurse that something was wrong for the woman immediately began fussing over her. Tsunade couldn't hear what the woman was saying though over the rush in her ears. She knew the signs of a panic attack well enough to know that was what was happening to her. They didn't happen often, but every once in a while something would trigger them. And Jiraiya clasp her had in his own much larger one.

"Just listen to me, Princess. You won't even notice what's going on."

Her eyes snapped to his face. He was crouched on the side of her that didn't have needle in it. He smiled at her and launched into what was sure to be the plot of his next book. Jiraiya was quite a storyteller, and it didn't take long before Tsunade was completely engrossed in his words. It wasn't until the nurse was telling her to hold her arm up and keep pressure on it that Tsunade realizes it's all over. The nurse bandages her arm using bright green vet wrap, and Jiraiya presses a kiss to her palm.

"See there, Princess. That wasn't so bad."

The two of them made their way over to the table set up with cookies and juice. Tsunade accepted the little sticker that said "Be nice to me. I donated blood today.", and she didn't complain when Jiraiya didn't let go of her hand.


	15. Someday Maybe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 19: A Definite "Perhaps".

**Someday Maybe**

Tsunade lay back on the picnic blanket with a sigh. Jiraiya shifted beside her, sliding his fingers between hers. The pair had slipped away from the graduation celebrations. It was all over. They both had their degrees. Tsunade already had her internship lined up with a local university. She wasn't sure she was ready for any of it yet. Tsunade didn't know if she was ready to leave the community that the university gave her. And it's the connections to her best friend that it provided.

They lay in the grass together, watching the stars. The two of them had a picnic blanket and a bottle of sake to share between them.

So are you ready to face the big, bad world outside of Academia?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'm not sure," Tsunade admitted. "I start my internship in the fall. On the one hand, it will be good to finally be practicing medicine, but on the other, it's going to a completely new place and set of rules to learn. It feels like I just go used to grad school."

"Yeah," Jiraiya agreed, "I know that feeling. I'm working on a new book, but that's not going to pay the bills. Oh, I still have some money left over from the advance for my first book, but that can't last forever. So it looks like I'll have to find a real job."

Tsunade giggled, interrupting him. "Heaven forbid that!"

He laughed. "Anyway, I've got a book tour this summer since I couldn't go during the term. Then I have to find that job."

Silence descended between them once again, and Tsunade was content to just lay there with her friend. Sometime later, Jiraiya spoke again.

"I have a question for you, Princess." He played with their entwined fingers.

"What?"

"What do you think about getting an apartment together? I mean, sharing a place with me. We could probably afford a nice place if we pooled our budgets, and you need someone to make sure you eat and take care of yourself in between shifts at the hospital."

The offer shouldn't have startled her, though it did a little. She and Jiraiya were close, and truthfully, they spent most of their free time together. They weren't dating, mostly because Tsunade was terrified of the idea. She had been since she lost both her long time steady boyfriend and her little brother in a car accident. Dating meant she admitted Jiraiya was important to her, and that would mean she could lose him. After all, she'd lost everyone else she'd loved. Her parents. Nawaki and Dan. Sarutobi, her mentor and hero in the medical field.

But still, Jiraiya was important to her, and she couldn't spend the rest of her life living in fear. Maybe it was time to take a step forward. It was a good time for new beginnings after all, and it wasn't like she was agreeing to marry him or anything like that. And Jiraiya knew her well enough to know when to push and when to leave her alone.

"You probably wouldn't see me much. I mean," Tsunade smiled, "interns and residents practically live at the hospital. And I can't cook. Also, don't expect me to do your laundry either."

Jiraiya just laughed and brought their clasped hands up so he could kiss the back of her hand. "All right then, Princess. We can start our apartment hunting this weekend."

Tsunade smiled. They definitely had an interesting future to look forward to, whatever happened next.


	16. Luck of the Draw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU. Theme 27: Murphy's Law.

**Luck of the Draw**

Tsunade's day had gone to hell in a hand basket before she'd even gotten dressed this morning. She didn't know why she'd attempted to salvage it at this point. Nothing had gone right. Tsunade had had trouble getting to sleep the night before, and it seemed like she had only just gotten to sleep when a ninja pounded on her door with an urgent summons. Tsunade had tripped over a book on her way to answering the door, and then stepped on a pen someone had left on the floor. By the time she managed to sort out the emergency, she knew that there was no point in going back to sleep and had just stayed in her office.

The morning had ended up being full of paperwork that Tsunade just couldn't seem to get through. It wasn't that she was lazy; Tsunade just didn't like paperwork. Besides, it wasn't entirely her fault. She didn't think she could be held responsible for the amount of interruptions she'd had today. It seemed that nearly everyone in the village had a crisis today that demanded her attention. And many of them weren't happy about it either. Tsunade had dealt with crying women, screaming children, and cringing men. She'd had both ink and food spilled on her. And that was before lunch.

Her lunch was an unmitigated disaster. Truthfully, Tsunade hadn't even managed to eat more than a mouthful. She was supposed to be their leader and was considered a hero, but didn't that mean people respected her and left her alone? Between people demanding her attention and people knocking over her food, it was not a successful meal. Nor did it lead to a successful afternoon. In fact, her afternoon turned out worse than her morning. When Tsunade finally managed to flee her office that evening, it was several hours later than she wanted, and she was frazzled and grumpy. Her first order of business had been to get herself some food.

The fact that she had actually managed to eat her dinner in some sort of peace (even though the restaurant got her order wrong three times) probably should have tipped her off to the fact that something worse was coming. And it came disguised in the form of her best friends. Tsunade sighed. She should have never agreed to play cards with Jiraiya. She should have known that all traces of luck would desert her, but no, she just had to let him lure her into one little card game.

She had already lost everything except the clothes on her back to him. And it was looking like she was going to lose those too. She wasn't about to ask if things could get worse. They probably could. Jiraiya smiled at her and laid out his current hand.

"Your turn, Princess."

Tsunade sighed and laid out her own cards. Then she pulled off her jacket. Jiraiya's smile simply grew. Her sensible side told her she should just quit, but Tsunade couldn't bring herself to. Within the next few hands she was down to her bra and underwear. However, Jiraiya didn't deal the next hand.

"Come here, Princess."

She didn't know what he was up to, but she moved towards him. Once he had her in his reach, Jiraiya tumbled her into his lap. Now seated in his lap, Tsunade sighed. Jiraiya snaked an arm around her to keep her in place.

"I don't want anymore of your clothes."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want then?"

"I'm not asking for much, Princess. I just want a chance."

She frowned. "A chance?"

He traced her cheekbone with a fingertip. "We never did see if we could manage it. If it might work out between us. And then it was over ten years before I saw you again. I don't want to miss another opportunity."

Tsunade bit her lip. He was asking her to risk her heart again. And given the way her day had gone, there was no way she should be agreeing to this wager. But sense seemed to have left her along with her luck.

"All right."

Jiraiya dealt the next hand of cards, and for a few minutes, Tsunade actually thought she might win. She stared at her cards. And then she wondered if she was better off not knowing. If she would end up regretting it. Jiraiya laid out his cards.

"Your turn, Tsunade."

She set down her cards, face down. "I fold."

Something lit in his eyes. Jiraiya reached for her hand. He pulled her into his lap again and kissed her forehead.

"I win."

Tsunade rest her head on his shoulder. "I know."


	17. Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 04: Underground.

**Choices**

Tsunade let out a sigh as she double checked her equipment. All was ready for this mission. Well, everything except her. Tsunade was nervous, and she had reason to be. There was a good chance that this was a suicide mission. But they had to do something. Orochimaru was not fit to be Hokage, and they had to stop him before he destroyed Konoha as they knew it. Making him the Hokage had been a mistake, and everyone was paying for it. She and Jiraiya had to gather a small group willing to participate in a coup. They were going to stop Orochimaru one way or another. No matter what the cost.

Neither of them had any illusions of what the cost of this might be. Orochimaru was a formidable opponent on his own, and he had gathered plenty of cronies as well. People were going to die tonight. Probably on both sides. Whether they were heroes, martyrs, or just enemy dead will depend on who won. Jiraiya entered the room, Minato trailing after him as always.

"You ready?"

She nodded. He must have seen something in her face because he turned to his favorite student.

"Minato, can we have a minute in private?"

The boy nodded and disappeared out the door, probably to stand guard out there.

Jiraiya crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. Tsunade went willingly and rest her forehead against his shoulder. She couldn't show anyone else how scared she really was. She and Jiraiya were the leaders in this, and they couldn't afford for their people to see their doubts. Jiraiya kissed the top of her head. If they survived this, Tsunade promised herself that she'd finally say yes to Jiraiya's proposal. He'd been persistent in trying to win her heart, and Tsunade didn't think she could keep denying them both. Jiraiya hugged her a little closer.

"I love you, Princess. No matter what happens, remember that." Then he pulled away. "Ready?

Tsunade bounced up on her toes to kiss him on the lips. "Yes."

Jiraiya kissed her back. "No regrets, Princess. Let's go."

Whatever happened, their decisions had been made. They had made their choices and would have to build the future from here on out.


	18. How to Save a Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU. Theme 01: Epidemic.

**How to Save a Life**

Tsunade hunched over the scroll in her hands, searching for any clues that could help. She had been searching the archives for hours now, and she still hadn't found anything. The woman had the sinking feeling that she wasn't going to. That just made her job much harder. Still, there was some home that she might find something. There were at least two more shelves to go before she had exhausted all possibilities.

Their first warnings of the plague had come nearly two weeks ago. Of course, at that time, they hadn't been thinking it was a plague. A team of ninja came back from a mission with sniffles. That wasn't so out of the ordinary, and it had seemed like a normal enough disease at first. However, within three days all four of them had developed high fevers, rashes, a racking cough, and hallucinations. In another two days, two of them had died, and there were already another eight cases in the hospital. The two who had survived hadn't gotten any better either.

By the second week, there were over fifty cases, and they were no closer to a solid treatment plan or even knowing what the plague was and what caused it. And they were losing more people. Tsunade didn't think she had ever felt so helpless. All of the medic nin were being stretched to their limits with case after case being admitted to the hospital. At least three of them had caught the disease themselves. Thankfully, Sakura was holding out so far. Tsunade wasn't sure she could handle it if her apprentice was lost to this. Sakura would qualify as a master medic by the end of this. Tsunade didn't know what she would do without her.

A gentle pair of hands began kneading the muscles at the back of her neck. Tsunade sighed and leaned into them.

"Jiraiya?"

He kissed the top of her head. "You need rest, Princess."

"I don't have time to rest right now."

Jiraiya gently pried her away from the scrolls. "You won't do us any good working yourself to death, princess. Come and rest for a few hours. Fresh eyes will see more. You don't want to miss something because you're too tired."

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. And they couldn't afford to have her miss things right now. She let him guide her out of the library. Jiraiya led her straight to her rooms in the tower where she found hot food waiting for her. Jiraiya had clearly planned all this out ahead of time. The food was even her favorite, not ramen, but udon. With a happy sigh, Tsunade applied herself to the food before it could get cold.

Jiraiya didn't chat with her while she was eating, and Tsunade was grateful with that. She was sure he had the latest reports of new cases and who had been affected by the epidemic, but she wasn't ready yet to face them. She needed every moment of peace that she could steal. When she set aside her bowl with a sigh, Jiraiya reached for her hands.

"What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?"

"Make it the bad news." She wanted to get that over with as quickly as possible.

"All of Team Eight has been admitted to the hospital along with another five ninja."

Tsunade swore. They didn't need that. Konoha was already under strength at this point.

"Is there any good news?" She was beginning to doubt it was possible.

"Both Naruto and Sasuke are fine and show no sign of getting sick. I think Kyuubi's protecting Naruto from catching it. The two of them have taken it upon themselves to keep Sakura sane. They've been cosseting and fussing over her to make sure she doesn't overwork herself."

That was one less thing for Tsunade to worry about. Sakura had quickly become as important to fighting the plague as she was, and Tsunade had been worried about her apprentice burning out.

"Anything else?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Nothing you needed to worry about, Princess."

She let out another sigh. She trusted Jiraiya to take care of things while she was preoccupied with this damn plague. Tsunade was too focused on dealing with this plague to be able to worry about the day to day running of Konoha. Jiraiya was taking care of that for her among other things. She wouldn't be able to deal with this without him.

"Come on, Princess," Jiraiya's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Let's get you to bed before you fall asleep."

Tsunade let him tuck her into bed. It was nice having someone to take care of her for a change. She and Sakura might be lauded as heroes when they did find a solution for this plague, but the real heroes would be the people that made it possible for them to do so.


	19. Of Boxes and Ninja

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Theme 22: Messenger.

**Of Boxes and Ninja**

Hinata Uzumaki sighed as she made her way through Konoha's streets. She was hampered in this effort by her children. Nozomi, the youngest right now, was no trouble as she was asleep, but Minato, Kosuke, and Jiraiya were easily distracted by things they saw. Kosuke, at least, tended to stay close. Her boys, however, had a tendency to get into trouble. Hinata blamed their father. She wouldn't normally have taken all four of the children with her to do the shopping, but there was a school holiday today, and she unfortunately couldn't put off the shopping any longer.

So when the messenger from the hospital showed up minutes later, Hinata was very much not pleased. Sadly, once he had imparted his message, she knew she had to go. Sakura had asked for her specifically which meant that it was urgent. The other woman was one of the most talented medic nin that Konoha had, and if she was asking for help, things were serious. However, that didn't solve the problem of what to do with her children. Hinata was certainly not taking them to the hospital with her. That was a definite recipe for trouble.

"Hinata-sama, I could take care of the children. I was just about to head home." A young woman stepped towards her, and a blond toddler peered up at Hinata from behind her mother. "It wouldn't be any trouble."

Hinata recognized the woman as Kaminari Inoue. She was a cousin of the Fifth Hokage from the branch of the family that hadn't become ninja. She was also married to the Anbu's current quartermaster. Hinata nodded.

"Thank you." She handed Nozomi to the woman before turning to her children. "Behave for Inoue-san please."

It was nearly three hours later when Hinata was able to go pick up her children. Sakura had joined her since it was on the other woman's way home. They found the children happily playing under Inoue's watchful eye in the garden in back of Inoue's home. Nozomi was asleep in the woman's lap while Minato and Kosuke seemed quite entertained by game of tag. Jiraiya was over in a corner of the garden with a large cardboard box. Hinata could see that Inoue's own child was in the box itself. She and Sakura had arrived just in time to hear Jiraiya announce:

"I am the ninja of the box! There is no other ninja that can surpass me!"

The little blond girl in the box giggled. Jiraiya turned to her.

"You can be the princess of the box," he announced seriously then kissed her cheek. "Box-hime."

The three adults smiled at the scene. Hinata turned Inoue.

"Thank you for taking care of them."

"It was no trouble, Hinata-sama. Tsunade certainly didn't mind the company."

Hinata fought the urge to blink over the fact that the blond girl her son was playing with was named Tsunade. Given the tendency of people in the village to name children after heroes or other notable people, it wasn't that surprising. After all, that was how two of her own children had gotten their names. Still, it felt like an odd coincidence to have a Jiraiya and a Tsunade together.

Hinata and Sakura chatted with Inoue a little more before collecting the children and heading home. All of the children seemed happy enough, and Hinata made a mental to maybe arrange a play date sometime.


	20. Keeping the Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Jiraiya is about two years older than Tsunade. Theme 24: Faith.

**Keeping the Faith**

Tsunade let out a deep sigh and went through the kata again. She was frustrated and nervous, and the fact that the chuunin exams were in less than a month did not help. Her teacher wasn't useless precisely. He just didn't care about her. Both of her teammates had bloodline specialties and most of their teacher's attention was focused on them. Tsunade was less noticeable for two reasons. She didn't have any sort of specialty, and while her father supported her ambitions to be a ninja, but her stepmother did not. And she had made that clear to just about everyone she met. She let out a cry of frustration, slamming her hand against the wall. Apparently, that was enough to attract some attention.

Someone took a hold of her wrist and turned her around. Tsunade blinked as she found herself face to face with one of the Hokage's sons. He seemed more interested in examining her knuckles for damage.

"You know, if you're going to hit poor defenseless walls, you might consider hitting them properly, so you don't hurt yourself." The boy flashed her a smile. "I'm Jiraiya by the way. So what did the poor wall do to you?"

She huffed and shook her bangs out of her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just frustrated. I'm never going to pass the exam."

"I doubt that." He studied her a moment. "From what I saw earlier, you're pretty good. You just need to stop hesitating. It's throwing you off."

Tsunade tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya frowned at her. "When you go through a kata, you hesitate before the blow is supposed to land. Your teacher hasn't mentioned it to you?"

She snorted. "I doubt he'd notice unless it was about to get me killed. I don't have a bloodline specialty like my teammates, and most of the time it's like I don't exist."

He smiled at her. "Don't look so discouraged. Having a bloodline specialty isn't everything. Or as my dad would say 'inbred mutant freaks.' You have your own skills."

Well, that was the first she had heard about it. Jiraiya seemed to realize this.

"You have really great chakra control. Use that. Here." He turned her so she was facing away from him and slipped his hands over hers. "Relax, Hime. Just follow what I show you."

He walked her through the kata again. His hands over hers made it clear what he was talking about in regards to hesitation. There was a moment when she would have paused, but he kept her moving.

"See? You can do it. Just don't let them intimidate you. Half the battle is having faith in yourself. Heroes are the ones who are stupid enough to walk into a fight believing that they can win and then don't let their opponents convince them otherwise."

Tsunade couldn't help but laugh at that as she turned around. She grinned at him. "Thank you."

To her surprise, Jiraiya leaned down and kissed her nose. ""You will do just fine, Hime. Good luck and keep practicing."

She watched him walk away and tried to ignore the warm, fuzzy feeling that had taken up residence in her chest. Tsunade would have time to explore that after she passed the exam.


	21. Going South

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Jiraiya is about two years older than Tsunade. Theme 15: Consensus.

**Going South**

Jiraiya Uzumaki was oddly nervous as he found a good seat to watch the exam. He didn't know why. He had passed the chuunin exam two years ago now. It was probably because of that girl. Three weeks ago, he had stumbled across a pretty blond gennin who was clearly having a bad day with her training. Jiraiya had stopped and talked with her and given her some advice. He didn't know the girl, she was probably two or three years younger than him, but there was something about her that had caught his attention. He knew he wanted to see how she did with the exam.

Akira elbowed him. "Hey, what's with the daydreaming?"

Jiraiya just shook his head. "Nothing."

Akira gave him a skeptical look, but let the matter drop. Akira Uchiha had been his best friend forever. They were in the same three man cell together, though neither of them really knew their third teammate very well. The guy seemed to be intimidated by who Akira and Jiraiya's parents were, and they had yet to be able to get him to loosen up. At this point they were hoping the time and continued exposure would do the trick.

"So what's the girl's name again?"

Jiraiya sighed. "You know that I don't know."

"And your point is?"

Akira had been teasing him about this fact ever since he found out. His friend seemed to think it was hilarious. Jiraiya was less than amused.

"Knock it off or I'll tell Kosuke about that mission. You know, the one where you had those three harem girls--"

"Okay! I won't bring it up again."

Jiraiya grinned. It was rather useful that his older sister and his best friend were in love with one another. And it gave him all sorts of blackmail material for both of them. He and Akira made mocking commentary through the first few fights. Jiraiya perked up when the two ninja appeared for the fifth fight. That was his girl. Her name was Tsunade Inoue, and Jiraiya couldn't help but notice the irony of that. After all, he had been named after the original Jiraiya, and just about everyone was agreed that the man had been in love with the original Tsunade.

"That's her."

"Hmm." Akira studied the girl as they waited for the match to start. "Pretty little thing. Not as pretty as Kosuke, but then who is?"

The match began, and very shortly Jiraiya began to frown. Tsunade was doing pretty well so far, but something about the match was off to him. He couldn't hear what Tsunade's opponent was saying, but whatever it was, it was clearly bothering Tsunade. He could read that much from her body language. Jiraiya's frown deepened when she stumbled and then lifted a hand to her temple, almost is if she was pushing back thoughts or memories. The moment he knew something was really, seriously wrong though was when her opponent laughed and Tsunade snarled. Then she let lose with a punch that missed her opponent but left a crater in the wall.

Akira frowned. "This doesn't seem right some how."

"It's not just me then." Jiraiya was on his feet; that consensus was all he needed. "Something's wrong."

He couldn't explain how he knew it, but Jiraiya had the feeling that Tsunade was remembering something. There times when he woke up with half remembered dreams that often matched up with stories he'd been told about his namesake. This was a similar feeling.

"He doesn't have a chance," Akira said. "She's so lost in her rage that she won't feel pain. I wonder what he did to provoke her."

The matched ended shortly after that with Tsunade declared the victor. But Jiraiya noticed she had started shaking once it had ended. She looked like she was ready to fall apart.

"Come on."

He and Akira headed down to where the participants were. Jiraiya caught sight of Tsunade who looked like she was about to have hysterics. Akira looked at him.

"Let's get her out of here."

Jiraiya slid his arm around her and led her into one of the empty rooms off the hallway. Tsunade didn't even seem to notice. Akira stood guard at the door. Jiraiya pulled her into his arms and began to rub her back.

"Hey." He wanted to get her attention. "It's okay, Hime. I've got you."

Tsunade blinked as if coming out of a trance. She looked up at his face before bursting into tears and burying her face in his shoulder. Jiraiya couldn't make out all of what she was saying, but he caught some of it.

"So much blood…can't stop it…my fault…so sorry I sent you there…"

Jiraiya scooped her up in his arms and sat down on the cot in the room. He held her close, murmuring reassurances. He had a feeling he knew what she was seeing. Of course, it wasn't exactly something that the original Tsunade had seen, but maybe it was mixed up with other memories. It sounded like the original Jiraiya's death though. Jiraiya had done a little research on reincarnation after he'd started having those half remembered dreams. It was possible that Tsunade was seeing things from a previous life, but she really shouldn't have such direct access to the memories.

It took nearly thirty minutes her to calm down. Finally though, Tsunade had stopped crying and just rest limply in his lap, her face still tucked against his shoulder.

"Feel like talking about it yet?" he asked.

"Not really." She shuddered a little. "But I doubt I'll ever be ready, so now's as good a time as any."

"What happened out there?"

"He was taunting me," Tsunade's voice was small. "And the more he did, the more the images came to the surface. I have dreams sometimes, but never anything as vivid as this. You were there. Older, but it was you. You were dying, and I couldn't save you. And the worst part was I knew I had sent you there."

She continued talking before he could say anything. "Obviously it didn't actually happen as you're alive, and I'm in no position to order you to anything, but it felt so real and the emotions were there, and they just sort of took over. It was like my body knew exactly what to do despite the fact that I really didn't know what I was doing. I know it sounds weird and ridiculous, but that is what happened and--"

"Hey, I believe you, Hime. Calm down." Jiraiya ran a hand through her hair. It had already come out of its ponytail, so it couldn't hurt.

Tsunade sighed against him, and Jiraiya figured she was feeling better enough that she could leave. It might be a good idea to get away from this place for awhile. He kissed her forehead.

"Come, let's go get some lunch. We'll celebrate the fact that you won your match. I'll even treat you to a hero's feast of ramen."

That made her laugh like Jiraiya hoped it would, and she got to her feet. Jiraiya took her hand in his. He doubted he'd be letting her get away from him. He wasn't entirely sure what all this meant for either of them, but he wasn't going to let his confusion stop him from getting to know this Tsunade. Maybe the fates thought they deserved a second chance, and this was a nudge in the right direction. Maybe not and it was all coincidence. Jiraiya wasn't going to worry about. He was going to take Tsunade out to lunch and introduce her to Akira, and they would take things from there.


	22. Quiet Determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Jiraiya is about two years older than Tsunade. Theme 28: Fox.

**Quiet Determination**

Tsunade honestly couldn't remember being this happy before. Even if she was stuck shopping with her stepsister and stepmother. It wasn't the most pleasant of tasks, but once they were done, she was meeting Jiraiya, Akira, and Kosuke for lunch. And that she was looking forward to. She had finally found a place for herself among her fellow ninja, and she had friends who were more than just people who knew her name and were willing to share gossip with her. Also, thanks to her "unexpectedly good" performance in the chuunin exams, her teacher had actually started to pay some attention to her. Tsunade had managed to convince the man that it was his idea that she study to become a medic nin, and she found it was much easier to get information and resources once her teacher had signed off on that.

She had pretty much tuned out her stepmother and stepsister's conversation as they shopped. She didn't have much interest in it. Tamako was grooming her daughter to catch the eye of a wealthy and influential man and marry him. She had not been pleased when her own marriage to the Anbu's quartermaster had not advanced her own social position as much as she had wanted. Of course, at the time the woman had been under the impression that it was Tsunade's father who was related to the First. However, that had been Tsunade's mother. Tsunade herself mostly took after that side of the family. What people tended to remark on the most is how much she looked like her cousin, the Fifth Hokage.

A sinking feeling appeared in her stomach just before the screams began. Tsunade had the forethought to shove her stepmother and stepsister into a shelter corner and tell them to stay put if possible. She might not like them very much, but she didn't want them dead. Then she went to go see what was going on. It was probably dumb of her. After all, Tsunade really was a rather young ninja without much experience, but someone needed to do something. It took her a few moments to realize what exactly was going on once she reached the scene of the battle. The Hokage was here, and Tsunade could immediately tell that there was something wrong.

If she had to guess, she would say that Kyuubi was the one in charge right now. She gulped. Tsunade really didn't want to face down an angry fox demon. Then she caught sight of Hinata Uzumaki, crumpled on the ground and clearly injured. Tsunade swore. This was bad. She doubted that Kyuubi was going to calm down at all if his mate was hurt. Tsunade could see other ninja around, mostly dealing with those enemies that weren't dealing with the Hokage's rage, but there were no medic nin in sight. Someone needed to do something though, and Tsunade couldn't tell had badly Hinata was hurt from here.

Tsunade could think of a dozen reasons why this was a bad idea, but she was doing it anyway. She carefully made her way towards Hinata, trying not to attract any attention. This worked pretty well until she got closer to Hinata. Once she was in almost in range of the woman, Tsunade found herself staring down an angry fox demon. She met its eyes steadily.

"I'm not going to hurt her. I just want to make sure she'll be okay. I'm a medic."

It seemed like forever before she was allowed to pass, but Tsunade guessed that it had only been a few moments. Still, there was something unnerving about staring down a fox demon. She turned her attention to the injured woman. Thankfully, her injuries were not too extensive. Tsunade figured she would be able to heal all of them. She quickly set to work on the most serious of the damage. Figuring that nothing was going to get past Kyuubi, Tsunade felt safe enough to focus completely on the task in front of her.

* * *

Naruto came back to himself to find a blond medic-nin treating his wife. He didn't immediately recognize the girl, but she did look vaguely familiar. However, before he could really do anything, his two older sons had appeared on the scene, and one of the ninja who'd been helping with their attackers was needing his attention. When things had calmed down, he found Hinata sitting up with Minato fussing over her. Jiraiya was fussing over the young medic.

"What were you thinking, Hime? Do you know how stupid that was?"

"I'm fairly certain that there is a level of stupidity needed for anyone who wants to be a ninja," the girl replied. "Besides, can you imagine the outcome if I hadn't?"

Jiraiya mumbled something he couldn't catch and then kissed the girl's forehead. Naruto raised an eyebrow. Was this the young woman that his son had taken a mysterious interest in? But before Naruto could further investigate this situation more, a woman had stormed up to the pair, and the medic was on the receiving end of a rather nasty scolding. The medic had pale and was looking down at the ground. Naruto frowned and stepped forward.

"Excuse me," he interrupted, "I just wanted to thank the young lady."

The girl looked up and blushed, and Naruto really looked at her for the first time. He blinked. She wasn't Tsunade-baa-chan's spitting image, but she was close. It would be easy to mistake her for a younger version of the Fifth.

"This is Tsunade Inoue, Dad."

"You did a good job, Tsunade. Not many ninja show that kind of initiative or courage."

She shook her head. "I just did what needed to be done."

His son grinned at her. "That's what most heroes say, Hime."

Tsunade elbowed him. "'Raiya, I am not a hero."

Naruto just shook his head. Jiraiya had flirted with girls forever, but this was something more. "Anyway, at least let me buy you lunch as a thank you."

She blushed and tried to back out of it but was unable to, especially when Hinata chimed in. However, it did seem to have rescued the girl from the scolding she had been getting. The woman who had been doing the scolding was now staring at them wide eyed. Jiraiya slung an arm around Tsunade's shoulders, and the whole group started heading for the Ichiraku. Naruto smiled. He was going to have fun embarrassing his son in front of his girlfriend.


	23. A Perfect Third

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Jiraiya is about two years older than Tsunade. Theme 09: Mode of Transportation.

**A Perfect Third**

Tsunade let out a little sigh as she went about her duties for the day. It was one of those days when Jiraiya and Akira were out on a mission, and quite honestly she missed them. At least Kosuke, Jiraiya's older sister was around. Still, she was closer to Jiraiya and Akira. But there was enough going on at the hospital today to keep Tsunade busy enough that she wouldn't be dwelling on the fact that her friends wouldn't be around when she finished with her shift.

She spent most of her time at the hospital these days. Once her skills had come to the awareness of Konoha's other medic nin, she was practically been kidnapped by them. Most of her time was now spent in intensive training. She did go out on mission, but she wasn't actually assigned to any teams right now. Tsunade just got lent out as needed. It really wasn't that bad, and her medical studies had made a great deal of progress since the change. Still, it could be hard sometimes when she was the one left behind.

Stretching a little, Tsunade glanced up from her inventory work as someone came down the hall.

"Tsunade, could you please run down to the Hokage's office? There's a ninja making his report that needs some treatment, and they don't want to wait until he's done."

It was phrased as a request, but Tsunade knew it really wasn't. She was the low man on the totem pole after all, and she often got given tasks like this.

"Of course."

It didn't take Tsunade long to arrive. The Hokage smiled and nodded at her, and she went about her work healing the ninja's broken arm, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible and trying to ignore the fact that this was Jiraiya and Akira's teammate, and they weren't anywhere around. As she worked, Tsunade paid attention to the report. It quickly became clear to Tsunade at least that what had really happened was that Toushiro Kanazaki had felt that they were in over their heads and had cut and run. Of course, Akira and Jiraiya had gotten their ideas about what might be dangerous from their parents. Given that they were the heroes of Konoha, that explained some things.

By the time she had completed Kanazaki's treatment, the Hokage and some of his advisors were debating what to do. It sounded like they wanted to send someone to replace Kanazaki, but Sakura-sama wanted to send a medic nin, and they didn't really have anyone they could send. Except for Tsunade. She wasn't normally sent into situations like this because she didn't have much field experience, but Tsunade knew that she wouldn't have any problems with this mission.

Tsunade calmly rose to her feet. "If you give me an hour, Hokage-sama, I will be ready to replace Kanazaki-san on team eight."

The assembled group looked at her almost as if they had forgotten she was there. There was the off chance that they had. They certainly hadn't expected her to volunteer.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Inoue-san?" the Hokage asked.

She nodded. "Jiraiya and Akira are my closest friends, and this is something I can do. How can I not go?"

Sakura-sama had an odd little smile on lips. "She does have the qualifications we were looking for, Naruto."

So Tsunade went off to pack her bags. It didn't take her long as she kept a kit ready take on missions at all time. She just needed to make sure she had everything she needed ready and check to see if there was any additional equipment she might need for this specific mission. Two hours later, Tsunade was on the road after being briefed for the mission. She figured she had about a day of traveling before she got near where the team's camp was supposed to be. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tsunade found herself in an extremely cheerful and good mood. There was something right about this that made her feel at ease.

When she got closer to where their camp was supposed to be, Tsunade started using a little more caution. After all, it probably wasn't a very good idea to sneak up on two ninja who didn't know you were coming to help them. However, this didn't keep her from nearly giving both of her friends a heart attack. To be fair, when they popped up in front of her, they nearly did the same to her.

"Tsunade? What are you doing here?" Akira asked.

She smiled; She almost wanted to announce that she was here to rescue them. "I'm your new teammate for the duration of the mission."

Jiraiya and Akira gaped at her. But they took her back to their camp, and it didn't take them all too long to sort things out and come up with a plan to complete the mission at hand.

It was nearly five days later when the three of them returned to Konoha. Tsunade was quite she they made a something of a sight to see as they entered the town. Tsunade was riding piggyback on Jiraiya's back, laughing and trying to smack Akira for something he said. There had been injuries during the mission, including her breaking her ankle. Tsunade had decided it was better use of her resources to heal her teammates first. They after all had more combat experience than she did. And she hadn't had enough energy to heal herself afterwards. So that had turned Jiraiya into her mode of transportation.

"And so the great hero carried his lady home in order to ravish her until--"

Tsunade gigged and tried to smack Akira again from her perch. He had been teasing her and Jiraiya almost since Tsunade had arrived. The three of them made a pretty good team. She had to stretch a little, but Tsunade managed to smack Akira upside the head.

"Ouch! Not nice, Hime."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. Jiraiya had gotten him calling her that now as well. Tsunade stuck out her tongue at him. "You deserved it. Let's give our report, and then you can go find Kosuke to kiss it better."

Jiraiya laughed. "You heard the princess, Akira. Let's go report in. I'm hungry."

Laughing, the three of them made their way to the Hokage's office.


	24. The Right Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Jiraiya is about two years older than Tsunade. Theme 26: Box.

**The Right Moment**

Jiraiya was incredibly nervous. Anyone could tell that. They all knew it was coming. A betting pool had even been started. Of course, most of them had been involved in the process at some point. Everyone in the Uzumaki and Uchiha families that Jiraiya was going to propose to Tsunade sometime soon. It was actually rather amusing to watch. At least this was the opinion of Jiraiya's roommate and his girlfriend.

Kosuke leaned against Akira's shoulder. "So, how much longer do you think he's going to stew over it?"

Akira shrugged. "Well, it's been a week now. He just keeps getting more and more nervous."

Jiraiya glared at them both. However, they were saved from his wrath by the entrance of his girlfriend. Tsunade had been an official member of Jiraiya and Akira's team since that mission, but she also still worked at the hospital as well. Tsunade made her way over to the kitchen table.

Jiraiya leered at her. "Hey, gorgeous."

His girlfriend laughed and kissed his cheek. "I'm off to work. I should be home early this evening though unless we get a mission."

"Do you want to go out to dinner tonight if nothing comes up?" Jiraiya asked.

"Sounds great to me. I'll see you after work."

Once Tsunade had disappeared out the door, Jiraiya found himself the object of attention of both Kosuke and Akira.

"Are you going to ask her tonight?" demanded his sister.

Jiraiya gave her a look. Kosuke just shrugged.

"There is quite a bit of money on the line with this," Akira added. "I can't remember who has money on tonight though. It's one of our dads I think."

"I'm glad you are so entertained by this. I will remember it when you and Kosuke get around to the proposal stage of your relationship." Jiraiya rolled his eyes at them.

* * *

Tsunade let out a deep sigh as she walked out of the hospital. It had been a long day. She was looking forward to having a nice, quite dinner out with her boyfriend. Of course, given their luck, they would probably get called in for a mission before the meal was over. It happened to them just about every third date any more. It was one of the annoying things about being a ninja.

Jiraiya was waiting for her. "So, any preferences food wise?"

Tsunade smiled. "Not ramen. I don't care how much you love the stuff."

He laughed. "All right, how does sukiyaki sound then? There's that little place over by the Yamanaka's flower shop that's pretty good."

"That sounds great."

The two of them meandered their way through the streets, not really in any hurry. Dinner was nice. Tsunade always liked decompressing after work with Jiraiya. He made her laugh and always seemed to know what to say when she'd had a bad day. It really was a good evening. After they finished dinner, Jiraiya suggested that they go get shaved ice for dessert. Tsunade was starting to get a little suspicious. There was something off about her boyfriend tonight. It was almost as if he was nervous about something.

Their conversation turned to who their childhood heroes had been and what they had wanted from the future when they had been younger. Tsunade was a little startled to realize how long ago that had been when she had first entered the ninja academy. She was eighteen now. Jiraiya was twenty. By the time they had reached the little stand that was there favorite place for shaved ice, dusk had fallen, and the fireflies were out. Tsunade leaned against Jiraiya's shoulder.

"Hey, Hime, I have a question for you."

"Sure."

Jiraiya pulled a box out of his pocket and fiddled with it, not meeting her eyes. "Will you marry me, Hime?"

Tsunade slipped her fingers into his hair and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Idiot." She smiled up at him. "Of course I will."

Tsunade thought she heard something that sounded like a muffled cheer coming from one of the bushes beside the path, but she ignored it in order to kiss her fiancée again. She was well aware of the betting pool that existed. At least they wouldn't have to worry about making any sort of announcement; the news would be all over Konoha within the hour. She figured that they had that long before people started descending on them with congratulations, and Tsunade planned on making the most of it.


	25. Close Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set slightly after Dan's death. Theme 30: Motionless/Still.

**Close Your Eyes**

Jiraiya knew where to find her. Tsunade could be rather predictable at times. He hadn't been here when it happened, but from the sound of things, Tsunade was not taking it well at all. He knew his friend well enough to know that this would have reopened old wounds for her. Dan had made Tsunade happy. That was his only value to Jiraiya. But he knew that the man's death had completely rocked Tsunade's world. It had taken her so long to be able to open her heart again, and this was probably going to drive her back behind the falls around her heart.

It didn't take long for Jiraiya to gather her up in his arms. She remained motionless in his arms. If it weren't for the fact that she was breathing, it would be hard to tell that Tsunade was really live. She was completely lost in her grief. Jiraiya sighed softly. He hadn't really seen her in this state since just after Nawaki had died. Tsunade wasn't really one to share her emotions with others. Instead, she bottled them up and only let them out in private. Jiraiya was fairly certain that only people on her team actually knew how much she felt things. Jiraiya gently rubbed her back.

"I'm here, Princess. Go ahead and cry. You don't have to put on a strong face for me." He kissed the top of her head.

That was all it took for the flood gates to be opened. Tsunade sobbed against his chest. He hated it when Tsunade cried. He never really knew what to do when she did. But he also knew that she needed to get it out of her system, and that she wouldn't let herself grieve like this around anyone else. It was something both of a privilege and a burden. More than anything, Jiraiya just wanted to fix things for her, even though he knew that was impossible.

All he could really do was hold her and murmur soothing things. There was no way for a hero to ride in on his white horse and save the day this time. Jiraiya could just be her shelter amidst the storm of Tsunade's emotions. He would always be here for her when she needed him. It was the most he could do, and it would have to be enough.


	26. With a Little Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU. Theme 12: 1,000 Years Ago.

**With a Little Help**

Once upon a time, over a thousand years ago, the leader of a clan of ninja had a beautiful daughter. Tsunade was his only child, and he had raised her just as he would a son. However, the council of elders that advised the leader of this ninja clan was not quite as broadminded. They wanted a male leader to succeed their current one and thought the best way to put one in place would be to have the man of their choice marry Tsunade. Of course, they didn't ask Tsunade what she thought of any of this.

Tsunade was not completely averse to marrying someone, but she wanted a partner, someone to share her power with not to give over her power to. Besides, she already had someone in mind for her husband. Like all other ninja, she had been trained in a three man group, and Tsunade had developed something of an attachment to one of her teammates. Jiraiya might be something of a flirt, but he had a good heart and knew how to make her laugh. What Tsunade didn't approve of was the scheme that the council of elders came up with marry her off.

There was to be a contest to win Tsunade's hand in marriage. It was clear to Tsunade that the elders planned on rigging the thing so that their chosen candidate would win. However, Tsunade was not going to simply trust fate when it came to this. She was pretty sure if she did, she wasn't going to be happy with the results. She actually had a plan for dealing with this. The contest was already rigged. Tsunade was just changing the outcome some. After all, she was the one who was going to have to live with the results.

So when the day of the contest arrived, Tsunade had a number of things in place to aid her in achieving the results she wanted. She sat through the opening ceremony dressed in an elaborate kimono and trying to keep her boredom from showing. As soon as the ceremony was over, Tsunade slipped away and discarded her formal clothing for the dress of a common ninja. She took care to make sure to cover her face. She didn't want to give away the game too soon after all.

The contest for her hand in marriage consisted of three parts. The first was basically a combination of an obstacle course and a scavenger hunt. Not only would the ninja have to navigate their way through, but they would also have to retrieve certain items and present them at the end as well. The second part consisted of a riddle each ninja would have to solve, and the third part really didn't matter much. The idea was that if there was more than one candidate left, Tsunade would pick which ever one she thought the best. However, Tsunade was well aware that the council of elders didn't plan on giving her a selection.

Of course, they hadn't realized that she had eavesdropped on their entire discussion of what they planned to do with the contest and how they planned to get their choice through it. Then again, the council didn't seem to give her much credit at all. They were going to learn that was a mistake a little too late for them to doing anything to stop her. The princess bit her lip. It was time for her to get to work.

It didn't take Tsunade long to slip into the pack of contestants. She stayed close to Jiraiya as the pack began to break up. Tsunade was well aware of what pitfalls were planned for the contestants, and she wasn't about to let him fall into the traps. There was too much at stake for her to let him lose. It was a bit of a challenge for Tsunade to steer Jiraiya out of danger without attracting too much attention to herself. If she had to explain things to him, she would, but it would probably be easier all around if Jiraiya remained in the dark about her role in things. After all, if anyone questioned him about cheating, he could quite easily say that he didn't know anything about that.

Tsunade nearly made it all the way through the first task without detection. But she had a close call with one of the traps that set her careening into Jiraiya. Jiraiya, being who he was, felt obligated to help her.

"Are you all right?" he asked as he helped her to her feet.

She nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

"Hime?"

Tsunade sighed and pulled off the mask. "Yes."

He frowned at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure that who ever I marry is someone I actually like."

Jiraiya blinked at her and then his jaw fell open when he realized what she was implying. "Me?"

She blushed a little. "Yes. If I don't have a choice about getting married, I'm at least going to choose who I marry. The others tend to forget just what I am and see only the princess. You've always seen Tsunade."

He frowned a little. "But what about the contest?"

Tsunade shrugged and kissed his nose. "I love you. Therefore, you are going to win."

"I don't think it's supposed to work that way."

"Well, they didn't exactly ask me how I feel about all this. Consider this me putting my own input into the selection process."

Jiraiya just shook his head, but he was smiling. The two of them got back on task. Tsunade stuck with Jiraiya until he was safely in reach of the finish line for this particular task. Tsunade herself had to dash back and change back into her kimono for the next part of the competition. Each ninja who had passed the first task would be interviewed separately, so the same riddle could be used for everyone. Tsunade smirked. Not only did she know the answer, but she happened to have a great visual aide for the answer as well.

She managed to keep a straight face throughout the first three interviews. There were only five ninja in total that passed the first task. Each of the first three failed the riddle portion. Jiraiya was the fourth to be asked the riddle. He looked at the elder asking with a blank face for a long moment. Tsunade winked at him and glanced down at the toad she held in her lap. Jiraiya nearly laughed and then gave the man the proper answer. The elder looked startled to say the least, but Tsunade had quickly concealed the toad again. She'd let it go as soon as she could get out of here.

The next and last contestant to go was the elder's chosen candidate, so of course he knew the answer to the riddle. Still, that left Tsunade with two suitors to pick from instead of the one that the council had picked themselves. She was rather pleased with herself. Things had worked out pretty much as she had engineered them to. It was perhaps not the noble or heroic thing to do, but Tsunade had always found herself annoyed with the heroines in stories who simply allowed things to happen to them instead of doing something about it all. She couldn't be accused now of falling into that same category.

Tsunade was given a few moments to freshen up before she was expected to go out and publicly chose the man that she would marry. She used the time to make sure the toad was back where it belonged. She didn't care what she looked like when she made her announcement. The people should know what they were going to get when it came to her. Tsunade was hardly a perfect, proper princess. But she grinned at Jiraiya as she took her place and began to make her announcement. She might not be a perfect princess, but she was going to have a happy ending anyway.


	27. A Quiet Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 17: Progress.

**A Quiet Life**

Tsunade carefully sat down beneath the tree, not wanting to wake the infant cradled in her arms. Nozomi had only just dropped off. She was the youngest of Naruto and Hinata's brood right now. Of course, given the rate that those two were reproducing, she probably wouldn't be their youngest for more than a few years. The current generation had proved to be rather prolific, and Tsunade had a whole bevy of adoptive grandchildren to dote upon. There were days when people could think that she was running a daycare.

She laughed softly as she watched the older children chase Jiraiya around the garden. Between the Uchiha and the Uzumaki families alone there were nine children. Adding in the Nara girls and the Hyuuga twins, there was a total of thirteen children all together. A baker's dozen. Watching them play in her garden was really a wonderful sight to Tsunade.

Both she and Jiraiya were pretty much retired at this point. While on a rare occasion one of them might take a student, most of their time was spent playing with the grandbabies. They both had taken permanent residence in Konoha. In fact, they shared a small house that almost always was full of children. It wasn't like they had much to worry about. Naruto was proving to be very competent as Hokage, and Sakura had definitely surpassed her teacher when it came to medicine.

No, Tsunade was more than content to spend her days playing with the various children that considered her their grandmother. She allowed herself to look older now. There was something peaceful and soothing about telling tales of heroes past and present to little ears and spending the time not taken up with children with her best friend. Tsunade wasn't entirely sure why it had taken her all these years to finally progress to a place where she could openly let Jiraiya into her heart, but she wasn't going to complain. She dropped a kiss on Nozomi's forehead. Tsunade was more than happy with her present life. This was a good place to be.


	28. Snake Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme 29: Q.

**Snake Eyes**

Jiraiya had a headache. While normally the agent was more than up for a new mission or intrigue, the current mission before him was going to be a disaster. Sasuke Uchiha was the youngest son of the Prime Minster of Konoha, and he happened to have been kidnapped by Orochimaru in order to coerce the Prime Minster into handing over the country to him. But it wasn't that simple. If it was, all that would be needed was a rather simple rescue mission. No, in order to keep Konoha's Secret Service off his back, Orochimaru had also kidnapped Jiraiya's godson and one real family member, Naruto Uzumaki.

It was not boasting for Jiraiya to say that he was the best agent that Konoha had. He had also trained with Orochimaru back when they had both been on the same side, and he knew how the man thought and operated. The only one left who shared that knowledge was the current head of the Secret Service, Tsunade, and she was also a former teammate of Jiraiya's. Of course, she had retired from fieldwork years ago.

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"I'm coming with you."

He stared at her. Tsunade hadn't done fieldwork in years, not since her partner, Dan, died on a mission. This was not a good idea. Tsunade met his eyes steadily.

"We both know you can't be completely professional about this one, 'Raiya," she used his nickname. "And we both know that I have experience with Orochimaru. I'm the best backup that you can get."

Jiraiya sighed. She was right in a sense, but he would have preferred to go in alone. He felt responsible for Tsunade, damn it. No matter how capable she was. He was going to spend the entire mission with at least part of him focused on making sure she was all right. He might as well give in though. It would be easier. Tsunade could technically order him to take her along, but she wouldn't like to do that, and it would get the whole mission started on the wrong foot. And given what they faced, they needed all the good luck they could get from the start.

"All right."

"Good. I've already let Q know that we'd be going, and he'll have an assortment of things ready for us."

It would be interesting to see what Q came up with this time. Their technology specialist could be rather innovative when it came to designing very useful gadgets. Though, Jiraiya's all time favorite was still the rocket launchers mounted in the headlights of the mini-cooper. Then again, he was rather fond of firepower. Q's real name was Kakashi Hatake, but whoever ended up in the position was always known as Q.

Tsunade flashed him a smile as she walked around desk. "Knowing you, you'll be happy as long he gives us something that blows up."

Jiraiya laughed at that despite what he knew they were going to face. "You always did know me too well, Princess."

Nearly a week later, Jiraiya was more than happy to have Tsunade along. She might not have been in the field for a number of years, but she slipped back into field operations quite easily, and Jiraiya was glad to have a partner. He was worried for a number of reasons. Orochimaru was very good. Jiraiya wasn't entirely sure that he could pull this off successfully. And by successfully, he meant getting everyone out alive. And he had to. Naruto was all the family he had save for Tsunade (who didn't really count, but Jiraiya considered her family anyway). He had promised Minato that he would look after and protect his son if something happened to the younger man. And he had managed for the most part until now. Jiraiya didn't know how Orochimaru had gotten his hands on Naruto, but when he found out who had helped them, Jiraiya was planning on having more than just words with them.

Tsunade touched his arm. "Ready to go?"

He nodded. "You?"

"Yes."

After a week of traveling and gathering information, they were ready really get the mission underway. They had managed to locate Orochimaru's base, and now, the two of them were working on getting themselves inside. The plan was for Tsunade to attract the attention of one of Orochimaru's lieutenants. And that was why they were at this extremely high class night club. Kabuto liked to hang out here in his free time. Tsunade was currently dressed to the nines. She was playing a spoiled rich girl with a medical degree and too much free time. That sort of thing appealed to Kabuto.

"Stop worrying," she instructed him, reaching out to straighten Jiraiya's tie. "I know what I'm doing. It's not like I haven't done this before."

Jiraiya sighed. He might not like it, but she was right. Besides, it was the only plan they had right now, and they didn't really have time to come up with another one right now. Tsunade gave him an encouraging smile and kissed his cheek.

"Let's get this party started."

* * *

The two teenagers glared at one another from across the cell. They were the same age. Actually, they went to the same school, though neither of them really knew the other. The two boys had a few mutual acquaintances, and that was it.

"Bastard."

"Idiot."

Needless to say, this experience had yet to make them fast friends.

* * *

Jiraiya blended in with the crowd as he watched Tsunade flirt with the bartender. She still knew her stuff. It had taken her less than five minutes to make herself at home in the club and attract quite a bit of attention. Of course, it didn't hurt that even at her age, Tsunade was still a stunning figure of a woman. In fact, most people would probably assume she was ten years younger than her actual age.

He kept an eye on their quarry. Kabuto had been eying Tsunade for a while now, and he was finally beginning to make his way over to her. Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief; it seemed like their plan was working so far. As much as he hated having Tsunade play bait, it was a good way to get the access they needed if it worked. Jiraiya approached the other end of the bar and ordered a drink as Tsunade proceeded to wrap Kabuto around her little finger. The woman really was an expert at this.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Tsunade and Kabuto made their exit from the club. Jiraiya finished his drink and took his time making his own exit. If anyone was watching him, he didn't want to tip them off as to what had attracted his attention. Besides, he made it to the back alley behind the club within minutes for leaving. Not that he was needed. Tsunade was waiting for him with an unconscious and trussed up Kabuto. Even if the man regained consciousness any time soon, he wouldn't be going any where. Tsunade was good with knots.

"Are we in?"

She grinned at him and held up an id badge and a key ring. "I would say so. I also got copies of his finger prints in case we need those. We can have someone pick him up and take him in for us. He won't be waking up for at least another hour or so."

"Good work. Let's get changed and move on to phase two."

* * *

The two girls were well aware that they were either insane or idiots. Quite possibly they were both. But neither of them had been willing to just let the guys in their lives disappear. It didn't matter that for the most part both of the teenage males in question didn't realize that they were even alive. They cared, and so they had to do something. It helped that Hinata had connections through her family, and Sakura had mad skills. Between the two of them, they had managed to locate the boys and come up with a rescue plan. Now they just had to make it work.

* * *

Both clad in things that were far more appropriate to skulking, Tsunade and Jiraiya made their way into Orochimaru's base. The id and keys Tsunade had taken from Kabuto had worked like a charm so far. Things were going well so far. Almost too well. Jiraiya wasn't sure he trusted their good luck so far. Something had to go wrong at some point, and he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still, they were going ride their luck as far as it would take them.

Jiraiya was keeping guard while Tsunade accessed the computer in a security station, trying to find where the boys were being kept. He was on edge. Something had to go wrong at some point. He had never had a mission where things had gone so well. It was making him extremely uneasy. Tsunade made a soft sound of triumph.

"I've found them. Of course, there's good news and bad news. Bad news is that they're pretty heavily guarded. Good news is that they haven't been harmed in any way so far. They're in the same cell too. We aren't going to be able to get them out silently, but they should be able to assist in their own escape."

"Good. If you've got everything we need, let's get moving."

In truth, it was probably a lousy plan, but it was the only one they could come up with. Besides, both Naruto and Sasuke liked the idea of being able to take a swing at one another. The idea was to get the guards come in and break up the fight and then use the opportunity to knock out the guards and escape. Hopefully, it would work.

The two agents made their way silently through the corridors. They knew they were working borrowed time. The more guards they took out, the greater chance there was that someone would sound the alarm about their presence. In fact, that was what they thought had happened when the alarms started blaring. However, it became clear that it was something or someone else that had attracted all the attention.

Jiraiya and Tsunade shared a look. This was not in their plan.

"I knew something had to go wrong."

"Just keep moving," Tsunade snapped back at him. "We might be able to turn this to our advantage."

What they found when they reached the holding cell was complete chaos. There was some sort of fight going on, and the boys they were trying to rescue were involved. Jiraiya also spotted a girl in the fray and another hovering near an exit. Neither of the girls looked like Orochimaru's normal fare when it came to henchmen, and Jiraiya was pretty sure he had seen one of them at Naruto's school before. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't working for Orochimaru, but he would give her the benefit of the doubt if she helped them out. Trading a glance with Tsunade, Jiraiya waded into the fray while Tsunade worked the edges of the fight.

Within five minutes, the thugs were all unconscious, and they had four teenagers on their hands. The two girls were a surprise, but they would have to sort them out later. Right now, they need to get out of here sooner rather than later. Tsunade and Jiraiya traded looks once again before each grabbing two teens and hustling them towards the escape route they had planned. Tsunade shut down any protests along the way. It the six of them had made their way to the hideout the two spies had set up.

Then it seemed like all four teenagers wanted to talk at once. Tsunade cut them off with a sharp glare and pointed to the next room.

"There are changes of clothes in there. I want each of you to strip everything you're wearing off and change. Bring me the clothes you are wearing now." She raised at eyebrow at them when the hesitated. "Do you want to take the chance that Orochimaru finds us because one of you is wearing some sort of tracking device? Our escape was far too easy for him not to have some sort of back up plan.'

That got them moving. The girls went first. The clothes didn't quite fit them, but really, that wasn't a big deal. While the boys went and changed, Tsunade started sorting through the clothing. She finally found several trackers in both Naruto and Sasuke's clothing. Then she abandoned Jiraiya to the teenagers while she went and dealt with the trackers. Jiraiya glanced around at the four teenagers. The girls were still a mystery to him. The one with pink hair had plopped down on the floor beside the chair Sasuke had claimed while the girl with dark hair hovered near Naruto. The second girl at least look rather familiar. Jiraiya would bet she was a Hyuuga.

"So, I actually know why the boys are here, but you two were something of a surprise," Jiraiya addressed the two young women. "Just who are you two and what exactly are you doing here?"

The Hyuuga girl gulped. It was the other girl who spoke up.

"I'm Sakura Haruno. Hinata and I go to the same school as Naruto and Sasuke. Hinata saw them grab the guys, but no one believed us, so we decided that we needed to do something about it ourselves."

"Kids." Tsunade's tone said everything; she had just come back into the little apartment that served as their hideout.

"We didn't know that anyone was going to go after them," Hinata protested.

Tsunade snorted. "Please. Sasuke is the Prime Minister's son. There's no way that he would just languish in prison some place."

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Sasuke demanded.

"Jiraiya's my godfather," Naruto spoke up. "He handles investment banking for the military."

Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair, a little embarrassed. "Not exactly. That's my cover actually."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

Tsunade coughed, though it sounded like a smothered laugh to Jiraiya. "All right. We don't have time for delicacy. Naruto, meet 007, one of Konoha's top spies. No, I'm not joking. Yes, I know, you didn't know. Hardly anyone does. I know because I was one of his partners for years. So was Orochimaru. And we had better get a move on before he tracks us down."

She got wide eyes and blank looks all around. Jiraiya opened his mouth, but the door burst open before he could really say anything. The fight that followed was brief. It ended with the six of them being handcuffed together: Sakura to Sasuke, Naruto to Hinata, and himself to Tsunade. And then Orochimaru stalked in. Jiraiya let Tsunade pay attention to what he was saying while he tried to see what he could do about their restraints. He was distracted for a moment when Tsunade snarled at their former teammate.

"If you break into evil laughter, I am so smacking you upside the head."

There was muffled laughter from a number of the other hostages at that. Orochimaru just smirked at her.

"Poor Tsunade. So alone. Parents dead. Brother dead. Beloved partner dead. All you have left the one partner who irritated you the most. I've already killed everything you love, Hime. Why not let me kill you too?"

Jiraiya couldn't see the look on her face, but there was something about her voice when she spoke next.

"You haven't killed the one I love best, Orochimaru." Jiraiya could feel her fingers flexing as he freed one of her hands and one his own. "And you aren't allowed to call me Hime."

She exploded to her feet, bringing Jiraiya with her. Her punch knocked Orochimaru out with one hit; Tsunade had always had one hell of a right hook. But Jiraiya was busy dealing with one of the henchmen. Sasuke and Sakura had actually managed to tackle the second one while Tsunade had moved on to the third. And that was when Jiraiya spotted the bomb.

"Hime, I think we have a problem."

She followed his gaze. "Shit. Do we have enough time to deal with it?"

He didn't think so. Jiraiya wasn't exactly a bomb expert, but he knew a thing or two about explosives. They were better off just getting out of here.

"Not really."

"Well, this isn't good."

"When have we ever been in a good situation?"

"Point taken."

The two of them each tackled on of the pairs of teenagers. All they had to do was get one set of handcuffs off the kids, and then they could move easily enough to get out of here. Thankfully, the teens seemed willing enough to listen to instructions at the moment. Given that they didn't know just how explosive the bomb was going to be, Jiraiya and Tsunade kept the group the moving. They were only a block away from the apartment when it went up in flames. Tsunade let out a sigh.

"Well, I'd say we're done here."

Jiraiya glanced at her. "You okay, Hime?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Orochimaru always knew how to hit my weak points. But I'll be fine. He was wrong. I've still got you after all."

And to Jiraiya's complete surprise, Tsunade bounced up on her toes and kissed him. He didn't hesitate to kiss her back. The teens were made gagging noises. Tsunade just laughed.

"When you've done as much for Konoha as we have, then you can make fun of us."

"So how are we getting home, oh great heroes?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya shrugged. "We call the military, and they come pick us up. Probably not a submarine this time though."

At his godson's look Jiraiya just grinned. "What's the point of being a spy if you don't get to hitch a ride on a nuclear sub at least once?"

That prompted a laugh from Naruto. Jiraiya just wrapped an arm around Tsunade and waited for her to make the call. Time to go home.


	29. Find Our Way Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is slightly AU and set in the future. It also plays with the idea of reincarnation. Theme 23: Sanctuary.

**Find Our Way Home**

As much as Naruto enjoyed being Hokage, he could do without the majority of the paperwork. So he was more than happy when an interruption came. One of his assistants poked her head into the office.

"Naruto-sama, Team Three has come back with a woman who insists on speaking to you. Shall I send them in?"

"Go ahead."

Naruto did a double take when Team Three escorted the when. The konouchi was nearly identical to a young Tsunade. She was dressed simply and wore no forehead protector at all. She smiled at him.

"My name is Tsunade Inoue. I'm from Kirigakure. I am seeking sanctuary."

Naruto blinked; her name was even close. Her smile widened a little and she shrugged.

"I'm a medic by training," her voice was soft. "It can make living there difficult at times, and it doesn't help that I'm a distant relative of the current Mizukage. I'm just so sick of politics."

That was understandable. Kirigakure's politics were known to be bloody, and every medic that Naruto had ever known hated any waste of life. Still, just because her story made sense didn't mean she wasn't a threat. But Naruto was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and it wouldn't hurt for Konoha to gain another medic nin. He would just have to have some one keep an eye on her for a while. And he knew just to assign.

"You are welcome to stay in Konoha, Inoue-san. However, there are some restrictions, and you'll have an escort for your first few weeks here."

She inclined her head in acceptance. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"If you wait with Team Three outside, your escorts will arrive shortly."

The young woman nodded, recognizing the dismissal. Two of the members of Team Three went with her while the third stayed to brief Naruto on the salient details of their mission.

* * *

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the Hokage's office. So far so good. Konoha had been her first pick of places to stay, though she had other options on reserve if she needed them. But it looked like they were going to let her stay. She was going to have to prove that she wasn't a threat to Konoha, but that was to be expected, and it wasn't like that was going to be difficult. Tsunade hadn't been lying when she said she was sick of politics. She also had no interest in them. All she really wanted was a fairly quiet existence some place where she could work as a healer.

It was about twenty minutes later when two ninja arrived. One of the men had dark hair and green eyes. The taller of the too had a shock of unruly white hair and dark eyes. He was the one who spoke first, holding out a hand.

"Jiraiya Uzumaki."

She smiled shyly and shook his hand. "Tsunade Inoue."

He blinked a little at her. "Have we met before?"

Tsunade shook her head. "I don't think so. I haven't ever been more than five miles out of Kirigakure before."

"Huh."

Tsunade understood his confusion. Seeing Jiraiya had trigged an odd sense of déjà vu in her as well, but she would remember meeting him before. She knew it.

The other man broke the moment. "All right, you two. You can gaze into each other's eyes later. Let's get Tsunade settled in first."

He grinned at her. "I'm Akira Uchiha by the way."

Tsunade smiled. "I'm pleased to meet you both."

The two men led her to an apartment building near Konoha's hospital. Jiraiya explained as they walked that the Hokage had arranged it. She would have a day or two to settle in before she was supposed to report to the hospital for testing and then to be assigned duties. It was more welcome than Tsunade had hoped for, even if the little apartment was rather bare.

Looking at her empty cupboards, Tsunade sighed before turning to her escorts. "I don't suppose either of you know a good place to get dinner?"

Jiraiya laughed. "How do you feel about ramen?"

It didn't take very long for Tsunade to settle into Konoha. She was quickly accepted by the other medics here, and even her escorts felt more like friends after the first week than guards. Jiraiya had introduced her to both his and Akira's sisters, and it was nice to have girlfriends. She had been isolated a long time in Kirigakure before she had finally left. After nearly two months in the village, Tsunade was finally allowed to walk around without escorts, though that didn't seem to stop Akira or Jiraiya from seeking out her company.

Tsunade would admit that she had easily formed an attachment to Jiraiya of the romantic sort. She hadn't really spoken of it for two reasons though. One, she knew exactly who Jiraiya's father was, and she wasn't sure she would be considered an appropriate young woman for the son of the Hokage to date, and two, Tsunade could not help but notice the strange looks she got from the villagers when she was with Jiraiya. So Tsunade kept her feelings to herself and simply enjoyed her time with her friends and her new life here in Konoha.

And then six months later, the ground dropped out from under her feet. She had just finished her lunch when she saw them and was heading back to the hospital. It was a good thing too since her feet took her back to the hospital while she was busy panicking. As reasonable as she tried to be about ninja from Kirigakure in Konoha, Tsunade couldn't seem to stop herself panicking. She was distracted for the rest of her shift.

It didn't help when Kosuke Uzumaki was waiting for her when she finished work for the day. Kosuke looked grim.

"Come on. I want to get you out of sight. Akira and Jiraiya are trying to get some more information for us."

That wasn't exactly comforting. Kosuke dragged her off to the Ichiraku and grabbed the two of them a booth in the back where they would be hard to see. Tsunade soon found herself wringing her hands. She needed to know what was going on. Thankfully, it didn't take Jiraiya and Akira long to find them. Of course, neither of them were looking too happy either.

"They want to take Tsunade back with them."

Tsunade blinked at Akira. "I see."

Her hands were shaking. Jiraiya reached over and grabbed one of them.

"Hime?"

"I won't go back. I'd rather die first."

"Then we have a problem." Akira shook his head. "Konoha doesn't really have a valid claim over you at the moment. They could always use your family ties in order to bring you back. At least one of them is related to you in some fashion."

Jiraiya twined their fingers together. "I have an idea. Do you trust me, Hime?"

Tsunade blinked again; that was a stupid question. "Of course."

"Come on." He pulled her to her feet. "I know what we can do."

* * *

Naruto was not extremely surprised that when he summoned Tsunade Inoue to his office that his son also came with her. That Akira and his daughter also came was more of a surprise, but then again, they were a fairly tight group. As much as Naruto hated to do this, his hands were really tied. While the ninja from Kirigakure didn't have a particularly strong claim on Tsunade, it was stronger than any claim anyone here might have. Still, Naruto couldn't help but shake his head when he saw Jiraiya and Tsunade standing together with hands clasped. She might have no idea who she reminded Konoha of, but most people saw two of the legendary sannin when they say her with his son; their resemblance to the former heroes was incredibly strong.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Tsunade, but I'm afraid that you are going to have to return to Kirigakure."

"About that, Dad," it was Jiraiya who spoke, "I really don't think that's too feasible. I mean, if you go around sending off your ninja's wives, people are really going have some problems with your leadership."

Naruto blinked. His son pressed a kiss to Tsunade's temple. Both of them were smiling.

Akira grinned at him. "Sorry, we didn't invite you, Uncle Naruto, but we figured it would be better to get them married quickly, so no one could bring up any objections. Besides, this way we didn't have to endure weeks of 'Raiya fretting over how to propose to the girl."

Naruto started to smile. The children had neatly solved that problem. And Jiraiya was quite right. He couldn't really relinquish Tsunade now that she was married to one of his ninja, and besides, marriage trumped minor blood relatives any day. She was theirs for good now. Which was just as well. Naruto was pretty sure that her presence here was the right thing. The original Jiraiya and Tsunade might not have been able to have a happy ending, but he could make sure that these ones did.


	30. The Riddle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU. Theme #3: Unexpected.

**The Riddle**

Jiraiya let out a sigh as he let himself into his apartment. He had just finished reporting to Sarutobi-sensei after his latest solo mission, and all he really wanted was a hot shower and then sleep. He dumped his things in his living room. He would sort all of that out later. A shower was the first order of business, and then sleeping for at least twelve hours.

The hot water made him feel much more human. Jiraiya pulled on a pair of clean shorts to sleep in and headed for his bedroom. He stopped short in the doorway. Tsunade was asleep in on his futon. She was curled up in a ball, her golden hair spilled over his pillow. She looked incredibly content. Jiraiya was just confused. Tsunade in his bed was not something he had expected. It was something he had wanted for a long time, but he wasn't sure why he had gotten it now.

Tsunade stirred and lifted her head, blinking sleepily.

"'Raiya?" She rubbed her eyes. "You're home."

He wasn't quite sure how to respond, so Jiraiya settled on humor. "Not that I mind coming home to a beautiful woman in my bed, but what are you doing here?"

Tsunade sat up and bit her lip. She looked down at her hands. "Jiraiya? Can I stay here for awhile?"

Clearly there was something more going on here. The last time Jiraiya had checked Tsunade had been quite happily sharing quarters with Dan. He had actually been expecting something more on the lines of a wedding announcement from Tsunade rather than a request to crash at his place. However, he was really too tired to even begin to sort out what was going on here right now.

Jiraiya sighed. "Scoot over. I'm not giving up my bed. We can either share or you can sleep on the couch."

He slipped into bed beside her, and to his further surprise. Tsunade snuggled up against him. Jiraiya drifted off to sleep, thinking that this all might prove to be a dream in the morning.

* * *

Tsunade woke when the sunlight fell across her eyes. Beside her, Jiraiya continued to sleep. She didn't blame him. He'd been out on a solo mission for nearly a month, and those things could be brutal. Sliding out of bed, Tsunade readjusted the covers around him and pulled the curtains shut. She'd let him get what sleep he could. Padding into the kitchen on bare feet, she decided what she could find to eat.

Part of her was having second thoughts about coming here, but it was the safest place she knew. Jiraiya was the only one where she could relax and let all her masks drop with. Tsunade had thought she had also found that in Dan, but last week had proved her wrong about that. Cooking was soothing, but it didn't distract her from the issue at hand. Jiraiya was going to want answers, and Tsunade knew that eventually he'd get them out of her. He was good at getting her to talk about things she really didn't want to discuss.

And the truth of the matter was that Tsunade was sacred. There were reasons she didn't want to have this discussion with Jiraiya. It meant admitting a number of things that would leave her heart vulnerable. And Tsunade wasn't sure she was ready to risk that. She also wasn't sure if she could avoid it either.

By the time she finished cooking her toast and eggs, Tsunade could hear stirring in the other room. She pulled the kettle off the stove and started to make tea. Jiraiya walked into the kitchen and blinked sleepily at her, almost as if he wasn't certain she was really there.

"Okay. Not a dream then," was the first thing he said.

"Do you want some breakfast?" she asked.

"Well, you look like Tsunade." He shook his head. "But you're certainly not acting like Tsunade. Clearly, either I'm still asleep or there's something seriously wrong."

"Forgive me for trying to be nice. I'll just eat my nice warm breakfast in front of you then."

Jiraiya smiled. "That's sounds more like my Tsunade."

She perched on the counter and ate her breakfast as she watched Jiraiya fix himself something to eat. It looked like she would have a reprieve until after they had both eaten. It was just as well. She still had no idea how was going to explain all this. It wasn't exactly the easiest situation to explain.

When they had both finished eating and the dishes were washed, Tsunade let out a deep sigh. Now came the hard part. She poured herself another cup of tea and moved out into the living room area. She settled on one of the chairs and stared into her mug. Jiraiya seated himself across from her without saying anything. He simply waited for her to speak. Tsunade searched for the words. Finally, she started.

"I broke up with Dan three days ago. I've been camping out here since. I broke it off because I love him, but it's not enough. Dan has our future planned out, and frankly, it bores me. I don't know how long it would take, but sooner or later I would end up feeling trapped. So instead I ended it. Because I knew that there was someone else out there that I could love more if I let myself."

Tsunade bit her lip and waited for him to say something.

* * *

Jiraiya was trying to sort out a myriad of emotions. On the one hand, he was rather thrilled to hear that she had broken up with Dan. Except for the fact that it hurt her, and he hated seeing Tsunade hurt. And he did think that she had made the right choice. It wouldn't have been fair to herself or to Dan for them to stay in a relationship like that. They both deserved more. Though Jiraiya was rather curious to know just what had caused her to realize that she didn't love Dan enough to spend the rest of her life with him. When he had left for his mission just a month ago, there had been sign of that sort of awareness.

He realizes that she was waiting for him to say something, and quite honestly, Jiraiya still doesn't know what the right thing is to say. This really was not the time to put his foot in his mouth. He finally settled on a rather stupid question.

"Are you all right?"

Apparently, that was all it took to set Tsunade off. She burst into tears. Not knowing what else to do, Jiraiya gathered her into his arms and held her while she cried. He didn't really know what the cause of her tears was, and he didn't know how to fix them, so really, this was all he could do. But seemed like enough for now. Tsunade just clung to him and cried. Later rather than sooner, the sobs began to calm. She didn't pull away though. Tsunade just rest there in the circle of his arms, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Hime?"

She sniffled a little. "Why do you make me feel so safe? No matter what happens, you always make me feel better."

He didn't have an answer for that. Jiraiya just kissed the top of her head.

"Feeling better?"

Tsunade nodded. Jiraiya shifted slightly and pulled her all the way into his lap. It was more comfortable sitting that way, and Tsunade didn't have to move. She seemed content enough to just stay in his arms, and he was happy to hold her. She was his best friend as well as the love of his life. Jiraiya wasn't sure if she would ever see him as something more than her friend, though there were times when he thought he saw something more in her eyes. Still, no matter what their relationship was, he would always be there for her.

* * *

Eventually, Tsunade shifted her position, so she was curled beside Jiraiya instead of sitting on his lap. She rest her head on his shoulder and slipped her fingers between his. Tsunade stared at their hands for several minutes. Maybe she should tell him the rest of it. The whole thing with Dan had blown up in part because of a false intelligence report that had been received. It had reported that Jiraiya was dead. Of course, Sarutobi-sensei had gotten a message from Jiraiya the next day that completely proved the intelligence wrong, but Tsunade had spent nearly twenty-four hours thinking he was dead.

It had shaken her far more than she had expected. And Dan hadn't understood, and he hadn't been able to comfort her. He thought that Jiraiya was something of a hero, yes, but he couldn't understand why his death would mean so much to Tsunade. It was hard to grieve someone when you had someone else questioning your grief. It had been a wake up call that Tsunade hadn't expected, and honestly, one she hadn't really wanted. She let out a soft sigh.

"You scare me, you know."

"Why's that, princess?"

"I don't know what I'd do without you. His death would hurt me. Yours might destroy me."

Jiraiya cuddled her close. "I can't promise you forever, Tsunade."

She met his eyes; that was the one of the nice things about Jiraiya. He almost always understood what she meant even if it wasn't what she said. "Can we try anyway? Without it ruining our friendship? Or should we just stay best friends?"

He kissed her forehead. "Yes, Hime. I'd be more than happy to try a romantic relationship with you, and I'll be here for you."


End file.
